Kingdom Hearts: Journey of the Heart
by Harvestboy Goobus
Summary: This isn't your average, run-of-the-mill Kingdom Hearts Novelization! This one, not only, is much more in depth than the others, but it'll also be finished! Novelizing Kingdom Hearts isn't easy, but it CAN be done! Chapter 12 is up! You may pass out now.
1. Dream

Chapter 1: Dream

_CLACK! THUNK!_ Two teenagers fought passionately against each other. One of them had long silver hair that extended to his shoulders and bright green eyes that shone with unbridled fire. His name was Riku and he was fifteen years of age.

The other had wild brown hair that was beginning to droop down to his face because of the sweat pouring from his pores. His had blue eyes that shone with the same passion. He was a mere fourteen years old. His name was Sora and he would be the protagonist of our story.

The two fought on a small island just off the coast of Destiny Island, a small tropical island in the middle of an expansive ocean. They fought with wooden swords. Don't get me wrong though, these swords, though not sharp, were _still_ very dangerous and painful.

But at the moment, these two were oblivious to the pain. At that moment, they had but one care and she was sitting on a large tree branch, just a few feet away.

She had fiery red hair and blue eyes that twinkled with excitement. There was a bright grin plastered onto her face as she watched the two continue on with their dance-like fight. She was Kairi and was fourteen.

Both Sora and Riku, ever since she had arrived at their little island a few years back, liked Kairi. Both of them fought constantly for her attention. This battle was no different.

But regardless of the rivalry between them, Sora and Riku were best friends. They had known each ever since either of them could remember. On the island chain of Destiny Islands, where only a few families lived for a long time, that was no small matter!

They had done everything together. Battling over Kairi was no different.

_WHACK! THUD!_ "Oof!" Sora stumbled back holding his stomach from a harsh stab by none other than Riku. While stumbling back, his heel hit a rock and he fell to the grass, beaten.

Riku wasted no time rubbing it in either. "You'll _never_ beat me, Sora! You might as well give up now! I'm just too fast, strong, _and_ smart for you! Plus, you manage to leave your stomach open… _every time_!"

Sora scowled at him and slowly and painfully rose to his feet. "One of these days, I'll beat you! That's a promise!"

Riku just chuckled. "Whatever, Sora." He spied Kairi hopping down from her tree branch and walking over to the duo.

"That one lasted over _ten minutes_! You've beaten your old record by over two minutes, Sora!" She cried happily. "Of course, he still kicked your butt, but hey! You're getting there!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Is it my fault that his hair somehow _never _gets in his eyes?"

"No, but it's your fault that your hair always gets in yours." Riku answered with a smirk, prompting a low growl from Sora.

Kairi giggled lightheartedly and put an arm around Sora's shoulders and then proceeded to do the same with Riku. "It's always _something_ between you two, isn't it?" She said with another giggle.

Riku looked over at the two, suddenly solemn. "So, are we still up for what we talked about earlier? The raft, I mean."

"Yeah!" Sora and Kairi cried simultaneously.

"So, we're just going to leave everything and everyone behind? Our parents, friends, home? I'm all for it, but if you two don't want to do this, say so now."

Sora and Kairi looked at each other. They both had a fire in their eyes that easily told each other the other's decision. Sora looked back at Riku. "We're ready!"

Riku shrugged off Kairi's arm and grinned. "Great! I'll go start getting some rope and logs! Sora and Kairi, you can help too! Get logs, rope, a sail, rations, whatever you can find that will help us! We don't know how long it will take to find land, so we're going to need _lots_ of food and water!"

They were quite naïve for teenagers, of course. This was a dangerous thing they were planning. One that could wind up getting all three of them killed! But all three of them were of the adventurous sort. Ready to do whatever it took for a big adventure. Riku, however, was probably the most adventurous of them all…

Maybe that's why it chose him first… Naw, it was because of his heart. His heart was strong. Stronger than Kairi's. Stronger than Sora's. The passion in his heart guided it to him, but by the time it reached him, it was too late. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here!

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Sora walked along the beach looking for some seashells he could give Kairi. Granted, it wasn't what he was _supposed_ to be doing, but hey, all work and no play makes Sora very annoyed, so…

Finally, after gathering a bag's worth of the very biggest and shiniest of shells (of which that he planned to make a necklace with), he sighed happily and lied on his back, staring up at the clouds. They were especially big and fluffy today. Good day for cloud watching.

"Hey! That looks like a cat! And there's a dragon!" Sora said to himself quietly. Yes, indeed, it was a good day.

Soon Sora became tired though and after fighting it for a few seconds, his eyes drooped completely and he fell into a fitful slumber.

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Falling. That's what Sora felt. He didn't feel wind or anything; in fact, he didn't feel anything to tell him that he _was_ falling. However, somehow, someway, he knew he was falling.

He realized with a slight fright that his body wasn't reacting to his commands. He couldn't even open his eyes!

Suddenly, everything changed, There was a bright _flash_ and suddenly, he was no longer falling! No, now he was wading in the waters of Destiny Island. He could move again!

Just a bit farther out, maybe just ten feet, stood Riku, his green eyes alight with passion. He was holding his hand out, palm up, in Sora's direction. It was as if Riku wanted Sora to take his hand.

Well, Sora did the first thing that came to mind! He waded farther out, in the direction of Riku, ignoring the feeling of impending doom that was gnawing away at his gut.

That feeling was justified moments later when to Sora's surprise and dismay, a huge _tidal wave_ rose up behind Riku and was rushing towards the two.

"Riku! Watch out!" Sora cried. If Riku heard him, he didn't show it. In fact, he didn't even move. He was like a statue, just watching and waiting for Sora to take his hand.

That's when it hit. Sora felt the water all around him, trying desperately to crush whatever air he had left after the initial hit out of his lungs.

When the water slammed against him, Sora had closed his eyes as he flipped backward through the salty water. When he opened again, he was chilled to the bone. Riku still had not moved. Not even an inch. He still stared at Sora, not blinking, with his hand outstretched.

Sora began to swim to his friend, but immediately felt a strong current pushing him away. It was as if the entire world was _against_ him reaching Riku! After just a few moments of fighting the current, Sora just gave up, letting the current take him back to the shore.

"_Sora!_" He climbed to his feet and stared just a bit farther down the shore where Kairi was jumping up and down, waving at him; beckoning him to come over to her… She had not been fazed at all by the fact that Sora had been nearly killed and that Riku was _still_ underwater.

He trudged over to her, feeling the sand sucking at his feet. At one moment, he nearly lost his shoe, but he was able to keep it. Finally though, he reached her and there, in exhaustion, he leaned over and breathed hard, coughing every once in a while to rid himself of the salt water that he had breathed in when the wave had hit him.

After a few moments of heavy breathing, he looked up at Kairi who had become unusually silent. _Maybe she finally realized what had—_He stopped when he saw her.

She wasn't paying any attention to Sora. No, she was staring up at the sky. His gaze followed hers and he gasps. _Shooting stars? No… meteors… Yeah, it's a meteor shower! Wait… what's that?_ He watched as a dark form fell from the red sky.

_It looks so much like…_ All of a sudden his eyes sharpened. Suddenly, somehow, he could make out every single detail of the falling figure. _It's… me?_ He looked to Kairi in disbelief, as if silently asking her to tell him that it was all a hallucination or a dream or something. However, she seemed to be in as much disbelief as he was!

_This can't be_… He felt a sudden change in the sand beneath his feet. It was as if it was the sand had just given away, causing him to fall into a deep hole. The feeling of falling and the look of horror on Kairi's face confirmed it.

He reached out to her, silently asking her to help him, but it was too late. He was already falling into the abyss…

The sudden feeling of cold caused Sora's eyes to snap open. He soon realized that he was still falling and that he was going head first towards the ground!

The wind suddenly stopped and Sora found himself in a dark place with no light anywhere at all. He couldn't see or feel anything, but somehow he knew he was still falling.

Suddenly, he felt his feet touch down softly of solid land and his legs nearly gave out because of the surprise. But nonetheless, he kept his ground and looked around, not that there was much to see.

Regardless of not knowing if his next step could take him back into the abyss, he stepped forward and _everything_ changed. What looked like a flock of doves suddenly flew off the platform that he was on and bright light originating from it nearly blinded Sora.

He stood upon a strange platform that seemed to be suspended in midair (or midabyss). The ground was almost like a piece of art, with a beautiful woman and seven shorter men surrounding her. It almost looked like a stained-glassed window, other than the fact that it wasn't glass or a window!

_"So much to do, so little time…"_ Sora looked around for the mysterious voice that seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere at once. There was no one around though. "Where are you?! Where am _I_?"

_"Take your time; don't be afraid. The door is still shut."_ As if on cue, the floor rumbled softly and three pedestals rose from the floor. On each was an item. On one was a sword. On another was a shield. On the last was a staff.

_"If you give it form, it will give you strength. Now choose and choose well."_ Sora felt himself giving into the command and soon he was trying to decide which weapon to choose.

He looked devilishly at the sword. _Wait 'til Riku sees _this_!_ He exclaimed in his mind. Quickly, he ran over to the sword's pedestal and grabbed it. Immediately, he felt _something_ flow through him. A power, a terrible yet addicting power that coursed through his body. It scared him but he refused to back down. "_The power of a warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this what you choose?"_ Sora hesitated but then he gripped the sword tighter and nodded slowly.

_"What shall you give up?"_ The voice asked. He looked around and his eyes settled on the staff. Finally, he walked over to it and picked it up. "_The power of a mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?"_ Sora nodded again and the staff simply disappeared.

_"Very well, your path is set. Your journey begins."_ There was a flash and the platform that Sora stood on just _shattered_, causing him to go into another free fall. It didn't last long though, for soon he landed on another one, quite similar to the first one.

"What the…?" Sora whispered quietly while looking around. "What's going on…?"

_"There will be many times you must fight. Keep your light burning strong."_ Before Sora could ponder those words, he felt _something_ slam into his back causing him to go sliding across the floor and stopping a mere inches from the edge of the platform.

He looked up to see what had hit him and gasped. It was a small creature, not very big at all. It was humanoid in shape, yet so very different. It had two hands, each with wicked claws extending from its three fingers. It was completely black with its eyes being a bright, glowing yellow. From its head rose two antennae like _things_.

Sora watched this creature in part fear and part interest. It was unlike anything else he had ever seen before! But it turned into full fear when the creature charged at him again, claws outstretched.

He cried out as he felt claws rip through his shirt and slash his chest. In reaction to the hit, he stabbed forward with his sword, only to find that the creature had literally _melded_ into the ground and disappeared.

He held his chest while he rose to his feet and looked around. "What was that—"

_"Behind you!"_ The voice shook Sora from his daze and he whipped around just in time to block another slash that could have ended it all right there. Surprisingly, Sora was able to push the creature back easily enough and before it could meld into the ground again, he impaled it with the sword. It disappeared in a flash, leaving no traces of itself behind.

"What… what was that thing?" Sora asked the voice. He received no reply. Instead, the floor beneath him shattered again and he fell to yet another platform. This one, however, just was brightly colored. The colors did not form a picture of anything.

There was a white door at one end of the platform and Sora began walking toward it, only to find that it could not be opened. "Hey! What gives?"

_"Hold on, the door won't open just yet. The day you will open this door is very far off yet very soon."_ The floor once again shattered and Sora found himself on _another_ platform.

"What is this?" He cried, getting aggravated by the vague phrases and the faceless voice. The only thing that replied was another one of those creatures. It rose from the ground. At first it was just a black blob, but soon it took the form of the first creature. Afterwards, it was joined by a few more.

Now Sora was surrounded. But he wasn't beaten. Not by a long shot.

One of the creatures attacked, slashing at Sora with its wicked claws, but Sora dodged its attack and cut its exposed back open with his sword. It disappeared in a flash.

Now three others attacked at once, coming at Sora from his front, left, and back. He disposed of them one by one, attacking the one in front first and then whipping around and taking out the other two.

Once the creatures were gone, he looked around for any other contenders. Thankfully, none arose from wherever they came from and Sora let himself relax. He tensed up again when he saw the staircase that led up to another platform… Neither the staircase nor the other platform had been there moments before.

He fought the urge to climb the stairs, but soon his curiosity got the better of him and he laid a tentative foot on the first multicolored stair. Nothing special happened and he was satisfied that these stairs would not collapse when he walked on them.

So he walked up to the next platform only to find it completely empty of anybody or anything. Except it _wasn't_ empty. Not completely. For at the end of the platform there was a _light_. It was just that, a light coming from nowhere. It was like a hole had been ripped in this… this _void_ that Sora was in.

He stepped towards the light, a grin on his face. _Maybe this is it! Maybe I'll out of here!_

_"The closer you get to the light, the bigger your shadow gets."_ Sora froze at the eerie voice. He didn't like the sound of that. Quickly he looked behind him and saw his shadow on the platform. He did a double take as he saw his shadow take a form of its own.

It grew and grew into a large and dark version of Sora… and then it changed completely.

It was _almost_ like one of the creatures that Sora had fought earlier. It had two legs and two arms. It was also humanoid in shape and was all black with two bright yellow eyes. That was the end of the similarities though. Instead of two antennae, it had a head full of thick black _hair_ that extended down to its 'shoulders'. Where its chest would be was a huge hole in the shape of an elongated heart. It was absolutely gigantic, towering over Sora.

Sora cried out in fear and tried to run back to the staircase, only to find that the staircase, not to mention the former platform, had disappeared completely. Finally, he turned to face the… _creature_ again.

_"Don't be afraid. And don't forget…"_ Sora bit his lip. He couldn't take on this… this beast! It would rip him to shreds! But he realized sadly that it was either fight and die or give up and die. He'd much rather go out with a bang, so he fell into a defensive stance and waited for the creature to make its first move.

Suddenly, breaking the stillness, the creature brought its fist down where Sora was standing. The teenager was barely able to roll out of the way before he was crushed alive.

When he rose to his feet, he was surprised to find that the hand had melded into the ground and was now what looked like a black puddle in the ground. Then… some of the smaller creatures rose from the ground, causing Sora to back up some more.

The hand formed again and the creature brought it back to its side, allowing its minions do their jobs.

Just like the last batch, Sora dispatched them quickly and easily. That's when the real trouble started…

The creature brought its hands to its chest and formed a semi circle. Then Sora saw a saw ball of light form between the hands. The ball expanded and grew until it was larger than Sora himself!

There was a bright flash and Sora's eyes widened to see another ball of light originate from that first ball and fly towards him. He had no time to dodge it and it hit him square in the chest.

The pain was amazing! Sora felt the raw energy flow through his veins and he couldn't help but to cry out in agony. He felt like dying; he was afraid that he might _have_ been dying!

Tears rolled down his face as he slowly rose to his feet again and held his sword out again, ready to attack. _It hurts so much…_ He thought to himself as he inspected the smoking hole in his shirt where the energy ball had hit him. The skin underneath it was a bright red and Sora could tell that it was burnt badly.

The sound of the ball gaining energy again snapped him from his thoughts and he watched in horror as another ball of energy jetted his way. This time though he jumped out of the way.

_Yeah!_ He cried in triumph. His glee was short-lived as he felt the same energy ball slam into his back and cause him to fly forward and slide roughly across the floor and land just behind the creature.

He let out a loud moan as more tears streamed down his face. "I can't… I just can't do it… He's too powerful…" He said quietly.

_"Get up! You _can_ beat the Darkside! You _are_ stronger than it!"_ The voice called out. _So… it's called a Darkside… Fitting._ He thought to himself grimly.

Slowly, Sora pushed himself to his feet and found himself looking at the Darkside's exposed back. The creature was obviously confused as to the whereabouts of Sora and he decided to use that momentary confusion to his advantage.

Quickly deciding that its head would be as good as place as any to hurt the Darkside, he quickly jumped and grabbed onto one of its hands. The Darkside reacted immediately, bringing the hand up to its glowing eyes. _Perfect…_ Sora thought slyly. Then he promptly jumped off the hand and onto the mess that was this creature's hair.

Now the Darkside was confused again. _Big, ugly, _and_ stupid!_ Sora thought with a grin. He ducked as a hand swiped across the air above the head, probing for Sora. _Not stupid enough though._

Quickly, he moved out of reach and smirked. "This ends _now_." He raised his sword and slammed it down into the creatures exposed neck.

There was a loud flash and suddenly Sora found himself on the ground again, looking up at a very angry Darkside. That sight didn't last long as the floor beneath Sora turned black and he felt himself sinking into the darkness.

"No!" He cried as he fought the darkness. _"Don't be afraid; you hold the mightiest weapon of all."_ The tendrils of darkness reached up Sora's body and began covering his face. _"So don't forget… You are the one to open the door."_ And then for Sora, everything went black…

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Sora's eyes snapped open and he cried out loudly, shooting up from the sandy shore into a sitting position. He was surprised to see Kairi standing next to him and laughing.

"Sora, you lazy _bum_! I knew I'd find you down here snoozing!" She exclaimed once she stopped laughing.

"Snoozing…? No! This huge black… _thing_ swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe; I couldn't—" Kairi promptly smacked him on the back of the head causing Sora to emit a sharp, "Ow!"

"Are you still dreaming?" She asked with a smirk.

"It wasn't a dream! …Or… was it? I…I don't know." Sora said quietly, now truly confused. "What was that place? It was so… bizarre."

Kairi laughed. "Yeah sure." She got up and walked over to the shore. She just stood there for a few moments, looking out at the ocean. "You know…" She said softly. "After all these years, I still can't remember anything of my home."

"Nothing at all?" Sora asked, slightly surprised at the randomness of this conversation.

"Nothing." She answered with a sigh. "You don't… you don't know what it's like living without a past. I don't remember _anything_! I don't even remember my own parents or my friends!" Kairi bit her lip. "I just… I still remember the day I arrived! I remember waking up in my bed that first morning and meeting you and Riku… But there is darkness before that! It's as if the memories just _don't exist_!"

A solitary tear feel down her cheek and Sora walked over to her. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she sighed shakily. "That's why I want to sail off with you guys. I like it here so much, but… I have to find out where I come from, you know?" She finished.

Sora smiled. "And I'll go with you! We'll see other worlds, Kairi!" Kairi looked up at him and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off.

"Aren't you two forgetting about me?" Riku said with a smirk. He had been watching them for some time now and had just now decided to make himself known.

"I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." He said with a smirk as he began walking over to the two. He held a pile of logs in his hands and when he was in range, he tossed them all at Sora with a grin. Sora tried to catch them all, but failed miserably, dropping them and ending up tripping and falling.

"Riku!" Sora cried in frustration as he rubbed his sore bottom.

Riku ignored him though as he walked over to Kairi. "And _you_ are just as lazy as he is!"

Kairi giggled. "So you noticed!" Riku snorted and plopped down in the sand next to Sora.

"Okay! We'll finish it together!" Kairi said with a smile. "Better yet, it'll be a race!"

Sora and Riku let out a chorus of "Huh?" and "What, are you kidding?" earning another giggle from Kairi.

"Ready…?" She said, her voice getting louder. "_Go_!" Sora and Riku looked at each other, flames of rivalry burning in their eyes. Immediately, at the same time, they both jumped to their feet and began racing down the beach with Kairi trailing behind laughing the entire time.

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"So, Kairi's home could be out there somewhere?" Sora asked. It was now dusk and the trio were sitting on the island that Riku and Sora had fought earlier, watching the sunset over the ocean.

"Could be." replied Riku. "We'll never find out by staying here."

"But how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows? We'll just have to try. And if it doesn't work, we'll think of something else! All I know is that I don't want to stay around here anymore… too boring."

Kairi finally joined in on the conversation. "So, say we actually _do_ end up on another world. What would we do there?"

Riku paused. "I… Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just… I've always wondered why we are here. If there are more worlds out there, why did we end up where we are? Suppose there are other worlds… then ours is just a small piece of something greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora sighed from his spot on a tree branch and looked over to Riku. "I dunno…"

Riku pushed Sora causing him to lose balance and fall off the tree and onto the dirt, causing Riku and Kairi to burst out laughing. He glared daggers at Riku and Kairi and kicked the latter, only causing him to laugh more.

Finally, after a few moments, the group fell back into a serene silence. When Riku spoke again, he spoke it softly. "That's why we need to get out there and find out. Just sitting here and playing won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff, so let's go!"

Kairi looked at him in interest. "You've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you, Riku?"

Riku looked back at her and grinned. "Thanks to you! If you hadn't come here, I probably would have never thought of _any_ of this! Thanks."

Kairi grinned at him. "You're welcome!" She let out a loud yawn and she stood. "Well, boys, I'm going home… gotta get some sleep… Bye!" She waved and walked across the bridge that led to the mainland and eventually her home.

Riku and Sora got up as well. Sora nodded a silent farewell to Riku and began walking off as well, but his silver-haired friend stopped him. "Sora!"

He turned back to Riku only to have a star-shaped fruit land in his arms. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

Sora looked at the fruit. "A… paopu fruit… Riku, what are you—"

"Legend has it when two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each others lives no matter _what_!" Sora gave him a strange look. "C'mon, you know you want to try it."

"What are you talking—" Riku laughed, cutting Sora off, and walked across the bridge, leaving Sora behind.

Sora shook his head, causing his brunette hair to go wild. He walked after Riku, but not before tossing the paopu fruit into the water. _That_ was something the guys on the island didn't need to see him carrying around!

All three of them got in their respective rowboats and rowed themselves back to their home island.


	2. Storm

**Chapter 2: Storm**

"I say we name it the Excalibur!" Sora exclaimed.

Riku looked at him. "Highwind." Sora and Riku looked at each other. "The usual?" Riku asked. Sora just nodded.

"Are you two at it again? Okay, I'll be the judge." Kairi said exasperatedly. "First one to the cliff and back is the winner! Take whatever route you want!"

Sora looked over to Riku. "If I win, I'm the captain and if you win…"

"I get to share the paopu with Kairi." Riku finished.

Sora looked at him. "Huh? What are you—"

"The winner shares a paopu with Kairi! Deal?" Sora stumbled over his words but Kairi said, "_Go!_" before he could actually come up with anything to say in reply.

Riku was _off_! He ran ahead running across the rickety old bridge that led over the tide pool below. Sora was right on his heels.

They reached the end of the bridge and now the two split up. Riku climbed up onto a watchtower where he would ride down on a pulley and end up on a smaller cliff where he would jump off that and go into a dead sprint towards the cliff wall.

Sora however, would go around the watchtower, jump down a small drop, run across the shore, and then race to the cliff wall.

Both ways held their own strengths and weaknesses. Riku's way had the advantage of the pulley, which gave him a large speed boost, however it was slowed by the fact that he had to climb the large ladder.

Sora's way had the strength of nothing really getting in the way; it was mostly a dead sprint. _However_ the sprinting part was its weakness too. It was a long run and it was hard for Sora to be able to sprint all the way to the cliff and then _back_ to where Kairi waited.

Most of their races, it was very close. Sometimes Riku would win. Other times Sora would. This time, however, Sora would win.

It all began when Riku missed a rung on the ladder leading up the watchtower. It wasn't much but it slowed him down, giving Sora a chance to pull ahead.

But Riku quickly caught up when he used the pulley to slide down. They touched the cliff face nearly at the same time. _Now_ was the most strenuous part of the race. It was the part where Sora and Riku sprinted all the way back.

Riku took an early lead, but Sora was right behind him. So close that one wrong step, they both would go tumbling.

When the two got to the drop, Riku effortlessly vaulted himself over it and Sora tried to do the same. He managed to accomplish it, but not with the grace and precision that Riku had and he stumbled slightly when he landed. Riku's lead grew.

Sora didn't quit though. Using the last of his energy, he pushed himself to his limits, once again pulling up beside Riku.

They had reached the narrow bridge now and with the way they were running, side-by-side, it was going to be dangerous. There just wasn't very much extra room for them to run! But regardless, they tried anyway.

Sora and Riku were both breathing heavily and they were slowing from the strain they were putting on their teenage bodies. As they ran, the bridge creaked loudly.

Sora spied Riku out of the corner of his eye. He knew he only had one chance to win this race. He was just waiting for the right time. That right time was just a few steps before they reached Kairi.

As they ran, Sora suddenly cried out in mock pain, causing Riku to become distracted and for Sora to pull ahead and win the race!

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"So Excalibur it is!" Sora said with a grin. Riku nodded slowly. "Hey, Riku… about that paopu fruit thing…"

"I was just kidding. You don't have to do it." Riku said quickly. Sora frowned at him. "Actually, I was going to ask if you were planning on getting the paopu fruit for me, you know, because of my fear of heights and all, but in _that_ case… okay!"

Riku rolled his eyes. For as long as he could remember, Sora had had a terrible fear of heights. Although he was okay when he was on a safe place such as something he knew he wouldn't fall off of, but if he felt like something wasn't safe, he would just freeze in fear.

"Um, guys? Whatever you're talking about can wait until later! Soon it will be nightfall and we need to gather some more supplies by then!" Kairi said from a few feet away.

Riku and Sora looked her way. "Yeah, she's right. Let's go, Sora. We'll split up, I'll get this side of the island and you get the other!" Riku said. Sora simply nodded and walked off.

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"Let's see… mushrooms, eggs, water…" Sora closed up his rucksack and sighed. "This is taking so long… _Too_ long…" Sighing once more, he continued on his personal scavenger hunt.

Finally, he came to a special place. It was a simple tunnel in the rock of the large mountain separating the two sides of the island that led into a small cavern. Tree roots partially covered the entrance, but Sora knew where it was. After all, Sora, Riku, and Kairi had gone in and out of ever since Kairi had first come to the island!

It was called the Secret Place. It was called that because it was a _secret_ that no adult's ear had ever heard of. Many children of the Destiny Island chain knew about it, but each and every one had taken a vow of silence. No adult knew about the Secret Place. They hoped to keep it that way!

He pushed some of the roots aside and crawled through the tunnel and emerged in the cavern.

At the far end of the cavern was a single brown _door_ of some sort. It had no door handle and everybody supposed that it was just there for decoration. The walls of the cavern were covered with vines and tree roots. What parts _weren't_ covered with those has scrapes and scratches that created pictures and murals. They were the work of the children of Destiny Islands. Sora walked over to one in particular.

It was one that Kairi and he had soon after she had arrived at the island. It was a drawing of Sora and Kairi facing each other, mouths open as if they were talking. Sora remembered fondly how he and Kairi had drawn each other. Kairi's picture of him turned out great, however his picture of _her_ was deformed and just all around bad. However, she had turned to him with a grin on her face and told him how great it was.

"That's Kairi for you… always trying to liven your spirits!" Sora said to no one. He suddenly got an idea. If he wasn't able to share an actual paopu fruit with Kairi, he'd _draw_ himself sharing a paopu fruit with her!

He got to work, picking up a sharp stone from the ground and began hitting the rock wall, creating a wall scratch on it with every hit.

Soon his drawing took shape. It was added onto the drawing that Kairi and him had already done before. Sora had drawn his arm and hand holding a paopu fruit up to Kairi's mouth, as if he was sharing it with her.

He stepped back to admire his work. "Yes, sirree, my art has gotten a _lot_ better over the years!" He exclaimed with a grin.

Suddenly there was the sound of a twig snapping and Sora spun around to find a figure in a brown cloak. The figure had a dark hood that cast a shadow over his entire face.

Sora stumbled back in surprise. "Who—who are you?" He demanded shakily.

"I have come to see the door to this world." The figure, clearly a man, replied.

"Huh?"

"This world has been connected."

"Listen, man, I don't know what you're talking a—"

"Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed." The man finished.

Sora stared at the mysterious man. "Well… whoever you are, you'd better stop freaking me out like this and start answering some questions! For one, where did you come from?"

"You do not yet know what lies behind this door." replied the man.

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"There is much to learn, you understand so little." The man said with a chuckled. Sora grit his teeth. "Oh yeah? Well, you'll see! I'm gonna get out and see what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort. One who _knows_ nothing can _understand_ nothing."

"Why I oughta…" Sora trailed off as his eyes became glued to the wooden door. It was as if it was beckoning him to unlock its _mysteries_. He took a step towards it when he remembered the man.

He looked back at the man… only to find that he was no longer there. The cloaked man had simply _disappeared_!

Sora looked around nervously before bolting out of the Secret Place and back outside. After leaving the place, he quickly made a decision not to tell anyone of this. They'd probably just think he was insane!

-------------------------------------

That night, Sora found himself sitting beside Kairi watching the sunset as they did every night. This night however, Riku was not with them. He had gone home early, claiming to be exhausted. So that night, it was just Sora and Kairi.

_I could get used to this_. Sora thought to himself when he looked over and saw Kairi just looking out over the ocean at the distant ball of fire that they called the sun.

"Hey, Sora." Kairi said quietly. "Have you noticed something about Riku? He's… he's changed…"

Sora looked at her intently. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" She got a look of serious concentration on her face and at one point that concentration seemed to change into… what? Pain?

Sora saw this and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Kairi looked at him, her eyes full of fiery passion. "Sora! Let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!"

Sora's mouth dropped. "Kairi, what are you—"

"Just kidding." Kairi said quickly before looking back out at the sun. Sora wasn't so sure of that though.

"What's gotten into you lately? _You're_ the one who's changed, Kairi." He didn't mean it in a bad way or an insult and thankfully Kairi didn't take it that way either.

She bit her lip. "Maybe… You know, I was a little scared at first… but I'm ready now. No matter where I go and what I see, I know I can always come back here… and I know that you'll be with me the entire time… right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Sora said with a grin.

Kairi grinned back at him. "I can't wait. Once we set sail… it'll be great." Sora laughed. "Yeah! It will be!"

Kairi looked at him and hesitated. "Sora… thanks. For everything." Sora gave her a weird look. "Don't ever change, Sora. Don't ever… change." Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed Sora on his cheek.

The fourteen-year-old boy was stunned. Absolutely _stunned_. It showed in his features too! His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly.

Kairi giggled at this and walked off before Sora could come up with a reply. She quickly got into her boat and began rowing away, not wishing to confront Sora with what she had just done. "See you tomorrow, Sora!" She yelled as she rowed farther away.

-------------------------------------

Riku watched the two from his spot high up in a nearby tree. He had heard _every_ word. He hadn't missed one. He remembered how they talked about his change. He remembered how Kairi had even suggested to just _leave_ with Sora. She had said that she was kidding, but her voice said otherwise. He had… seen the _kiss_. Some might say that it was nothing really, just an impulse, but he _knew_ that was wrong.

For a long time now, he had known that he was fighting a losing battle. Kairi and Sora. Sora and Kairi. It just sounded… _right_. He had known that he would lose her to his friend. He thought he was ready for when it happened. He thought he could handle it… It seemed he thought wrong.

Riku held back the pent up feelings until Sora and Kairi had left the island. Finally, he climbed down from the tree and abruptly sat down heavily, watching as the sun dipped completely over the horizon.

He tried to smirk at the irony. He was better than Sora at practically _everything_. Sword fighting, wit, strength, speed… well, most of the time with that one. But regardless, in a straight fight, he could knock Sora out with one hit! He was more mature than Sora. More intelligent too! Yet, in the end, _Sora_ won Kairi's heart.

The smirk turned to a bitter frown. "How is it possible…?" Riku asked quietly. He didn't expect an answer.

"Young boy, why despair?" Riku froze at the feminine voice. Then he jumped up and spun around. He stumbled back at the sight of a tall and pale woman in a black robe of some sort that reached all the way down to her feet. She also had a dark hood that covered whatever hair she might have had. The worst part of this woman, by far, were the two _horns_ that rose from her had! She carried a staff with a large, green sphere at the head.

"W-who are you?!" Riku demanded, instinctively reaching for his wooden sword, only to find that it was not there.

The woman chuckled. "Who am I? Why, child, I am Maleficent, _queen_ of darkness! And before you ask, I have come to _help_ you!"

Riku stared at her, contemplating what to say. "First of all, don't call me a child. Secondly, buzz off!" He turned and began walking away.

"What is your greatest desire, boy? Is it not to be with that girl?" Maleficent called out.

Riku froze and turned around. "Listen, I don't know _who_ you are or how you know me, but you gotta _leave_ now!" His voice was reaching a threatening level.

The dark woman simply chuckled. "Your heart is so very strong. So strong. Strong enough to harness the darkness."

"I said—"

"Do you not want to best that friend of yours again? Do you not want to prove yourself stronger once and for all? Don't you want to prove it to _Kairi_?"

Riku froze and turned to face her. "How do you know Kairi?!"

Maleficent ignored his demand and walked slowly over to him. "Riku…" She started quietly. "You have the chance to become _powerful_!"

"I already am—"

"So powerful that your friend would never be able to stand up against you! Entire worlds could fall at your feet! Snap your fingers and you'd be the king of _everything_!"

"What are you… what are you talking about?" Riku's voice had lost some of its strength.

Maleficent just grinned. "Listen, boy. Listen closely as I tell you of the all powerful darkness…"

-------------------------------------

Donald Duck was _not_ happy. That was evident in his stride as he stormed out of the Disney Castle, quacking loudly the entire way.

He ran out into the courtyard where he knew the King's Knight Captain, Goofy, would be.

Just minutes before, he had been walking along in his mage's garb. It was another perfect day at the Disney Castle. The sun was shining brightly. The birds sang happily. The mops were marching along the halls in perfect unity, carrying their water-filled buckets the entire way!

He was on his way to King Mickey Mouse's throne room to be the first to greet his king on this _fine_ morning.

He reached it and walked in like he owned the place. "Good morning, your majesty!" He had quacked as he walked across the long room towards the throne. "It's so nice to see you this morn—" That's when he had noticed that the throne was _empty_. King Mickey was nowhere to be seen.

Then to add to the situation, Mickey's faithful yellow dog, Pluto, had walked out from behind the throne with a _letter_ that had the king's personal seal on it in his mouth.

After reading the letter, Donald had found himself searching frantically for Goofy. He found him in the courtyard… _napping_ on the grass!

"Goofy!" Donald quacked. "Goofy, wake up! This is _serious_!" To the duck's dismay, the Knight Captain snored on, not even aware of Donald's predicament.

Not willing to wait any longer, with a quack Donald quickly used his mage's powers and summoned a bolt of lightning from the heavens that slammed down on Goofy's sleeping form jolting him awake.

Regardless of the fact that he had just been shocked awake, Goofy slowly rose to a sitting position and smacked his lips groggily. Finally, he noticed Donald. "Hey there, Donald. G'morning."

Donald wasted no time with pleasantries. "We've got a problem, Goofy, but don't tell anyone!"

"Queen Minnie?"

"No! Not even the queen!"

"Daisy?"

"No, it's top secret!"

"Pluto?" Goofy once again interjected, interrupting the white duck.

Donald hesitated, not sure whether or not they could tell Pluto. Finally, realizing how futile wondering about Pluto was, he quacked in frustration. "Not _anyone_, Goofy!"

Goofy seemed to look past the irritated Donald. "G'morning, ladies! G'morning, Pluto!"

Donald Duck froze. _All this time he was…_ He turned around slowly only to find himself looking at a confused Queen Minnie and Daisy Duck. He quack-laughed nervously.

-------------------------------------

_Donald,_

_Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'! Not sure why, but the stars have been blinking out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind! I hate to leave you all, but I've gotta go check into it!_

_There's someone with a 'key'—the key to our survival! I need you and Goofy to find him and stick with him, got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So got to Traverse Town and find our ol' buddy Leon. He'll be able to point you in the right direction._

_P.S. Will you apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal._

Donald finished reading the letter aloud to Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, and, strangely enough, Pluto.

The entire group was silent. Finally, Donald's wife Daisy spoke. "What could this mean? I mean, what could be so terrible that King—"

"We'll just have to trust the king." Minnie said, cutting Daisy off. "He knows what he is doing."

"Gawrsh, I hope he's okay!" Goofy interjected.

Donald turned to Minnie. "Your highness, with your permission, I'd like to go and try to find the king and this 'key'."

"Thank you. Very much." Minnie said with a smile.

Donald turned to Daisy. "Daisy, can you take care of—"

"Yes, of course!" She exclaimed. "I'll keep the mages training! You'd just better come back soon!"

Minnie cleared her throat. "To chronicle your travels, _he_ will accompany you."

Donald's face fell. _Oh no…_ He thought to himself. _Please don't let it be…_

"Jiminy? Jiminy Cricket, where are you?" Donald quacked in dismay. He _hated_ Jiminy Cricket. All the little bug ever did was talk, talk, and talk some more! He was always scolding Donald for his temper and always talked about some kid named Pinocchio!

_Sometimes I just wish I could_—"Down here!" Donald's thoughts were cut off by Jiminy's high voice. On a nearby table, a small cricket with fancy clothes on was jumping up and down, waving to get their attention.

Jiminy jumped onto Donald's shoulder. "I have a good feeling that this adventure will be so grand! When we get back," _You may not be coming back alive, you bug._ Donald thought to himself. "I'll tell everybody our stories! And I can tell _you_ some of my stories! Of how the time Pinocchio lied and his nose—"

"Told me." Donald said suddenly.

"Well, how about the time when Pinocchio was turned into a don—"

"Heard it."

"How about the time when—"

"I've heard the entire story a hundred times!" Donald quacked loudly. Jiminy fell silent, obviously thinking about what he _hadn't_ told him.

"What about—" Donald quacked loudly and threw the annoying cricket at Goofy who caught him and ended up falling into a line of statues. The statues each fell down, one by one, until the last statue fell over onto a walking mop and trapped it underneath it.

Jiminy's voice floated up to Donald's ears. "Temper, temper…" Donald suddenly quacked loudly again and stormed from the room. Seconds later, he came back in a dragged Goofy, who was still holding Jiminy, out, quacking about the fact that he was coming too.

Jiminy's voice was heard by anyone in the hall. "Now… let me tell you of the day the Heartless attacked…" Then Donald's angry quacking was heard as well.

-------------------------------------

Sora lay on his bed with his hands behind his head. He was looking up at a toy boat he had made years back. On that boat were two cloth dolls. One a male and the other female. He hadn't told anybody besides Riku this, but he always imagined the male doll being him and the other being Kairi.

_"I can't wait. Once we set sail…  it will be great!"_ Her words replayed in Sora's head. Then… her _other_ ones. _"Don't ever change, Sora. Don't ever… change."_ Then in his mind's eye, he saw her leaning in and… "What happened out there?" He questioned aloud.

_FLASH!_ A lightning bolt lit up the sky and thunder made his room shudder. Sora jumped out of bed and looked outside his window. In the distance was the island that he and his friends always hung out on. Hovering directly above it were black as night storm clouds.

Another lighting flashed and Sora began climbing out of his window with only one thing on his mind—the raft.

-------------------------------------

Sora rowed his boat towards the island. The wind was beginning to pick up and the ocean was getting rough, but he managed to get to the island all right.

When he reached the wooden dock, he quickly noted that Riku and Kairi's boats were docked there as well! "Yes!" He exclaimed. "They can help me!"

He quickly hopped out of his boat, tied it to the dock, and began running towards the side of the island that the boat was on… until he felt something pounce on his back.

The creature, whatever it was, emitted a loud screech and Sora could feel the tips of _claws _on his back. Quickly, he threw the creature off him and stared at it.

"It's not possible…" He whispered. "It's _not possible_!" He slapped himself upside the face to see if he was asleep. Much to his surprise, he felt the blow just as he should have!

He rubbed his cheek as he stared at the black creature. It just looked up at him with curious eyes. Then suddenly, it bared teeth that Sora didn't know it had.

Sora stumbled back. "What the…?" He stared at the creature in fear as it began to advance closer to him. He reached for where his wooden sword would be but found nothing.

The creature leapt at him, claws outstretched and teeth bared. Sora quickly jumped out of the way and started scrambling away, only to find that there was _another_ one in front of him. He looked around for a way to escape, but found that there were _dozens_ of the creatures surrounding him!

They closed in on him, but suddenly, a path opened up… No. It didn't _open_ up; it was ripped open by someone wielding a wickedly curved sword. The person who saved Sora quickly ran to him and ripped him away from the dark creatures, pulling him to the Paopu Tree Island.

Finally, Sora wrenched away from the man and held his sore wrist. "Who _are_ you?!" He demanded, keeping a lookout for more of the creatures. The person turned around and Sora's eyes widened. "R-Riku?"

-------------------------------------

Riku and Sora ran to the island. Riku had refused to comment on how he had gotten the sword or what the creatures were. He only said that the island was the only place of safety.

When they reached the bridge, Riku ran ahead, cleaving through any creatures that arose from the wooden deck. When he reached the island, he turned back to face Sora.

Sora reached the island and bent over trying to catch his breath. When he looked up, he noticed that _something_ was missing. He looked up at Riku. "Riku? Where's _Kairi_? I saw her boat and I thought she was with—"

"The door has been opened…"

"What?!"

"To the outside world! The door to it has been opened, Sora! This is our chance!" Riku exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Riku, are you _crazy_?! We have to find Kairi! We have to find her before… before…" He shuddered at the thought and promised himself that he would find her.

Riku's eyes locked onto Sora's. "Once we step through, we may not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again! There is no turning back. But this may be our only chance! We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

The grass beneath their feet became a sickly black and familiar tendrils of that darkness began winding up Sora's and Riku's legs. "Riku?" Sora cried, fear inching into his voice.

Riku stared at him and promptly held a hand out for Sora to take. "Take my hand!" He said forcefully.

Sora reached out to grab Riku's hand, not sure what would happen if he did. But he found that there was _something_ forcing him from reaching him. Like in the dream, there was a _current_ of some sort, pushing Sora away from his friend.

But he tried to reach Riku nonetheless. He stretched his arm and willed himself to reach Riku, but just as he was about to grab his friend's hand, he felt the 'current' strengthen and he was pushed back.

The tendrils of darkness covered Riku head to foot now and Sora noticed in horror that he was in no better condition. Then, in a flash, the darkness, along with _Riku_, disappeared.

Sora heard a rushing sound from above and he looked up, only to find what looked like a mass of _darkness_ hovering above the island. He stumbled back in surprise. "What's going on…?" He whispered. Then in a louder voice, "What's going _on_?! Riku?! Kairi?! Where are you?!"

Suddenly, he felt _something_ change inside of him. It was like there was suddenly a new power inside of him. He figured out what it was moments later. In his left hand was a… key?

Yes! It was a _key_ of some sort!  It had a golden handle which Sora's hand was currently wrapped around. Hanging off the handle was a small chain with an emblem of some sort at the end. It was three circles, one big and two small. The two smaller ones were connected to the bigger one at the top. Its shaft was a little longer than his wooden sword and at the very end was the _key_ section of the weapon. The end almost looked like a crown of some sort. The kind that you would see sitting upon a king's head, only flat.

Sora figured it was some kind of weapon but he found that its edges were rounded, with the excepting of the 'crown', which was just squared off, making the entire weapon dull.

He was about to throw the strange item down, but he felt something _willing_ him not to, as if the key was extremely important in some way. He decided to hold onto it, figuring it'd be better to face those creatures with _this_ other than weaponless.

He looked around, trying to find any trace of Riku or Kairi. His eyes stopped on where the Secret Place was… There was a large, white _door_ obscuring the entrance! He blinked, rubbing his eyes, trying to see if this door was real or not. And when he looked again, the door was gone.

"Good enough place to start, I guess…" He said to himself. "If Riku and Kairi are here, they would go _there_."

He began running across the bridge, back to the main island, but found the creatures in front of him. He spun around, only to see creatures rising up from the wood.

He gripped the key harder and he clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the creatures to attack. Suddenly, he felt the same thing that told him to keep the key, tell him to lash out with it and attack.

His eyes flew open and found that one of the creatures was in the process of leaping at him. He instinctively blocked the creature with the key. But when he brought the key to his face, he noted with surprise that the 'crown' part was glowing brightly and that as the creature came closer he brighter it glowed. On further inspection, he found that the formerly squared off ends had turned razor sharp and they glowed than anything else.

That's when the dark creature hit. It slammed into the blade roughly. Sora tensed up, ready to force it back, but found that he had no need to. For when the creature hit the blade's edges, it _disappeared_ in a cloud of black smoke. The weapon had obliterated it.

Sora had no time to ponder this, for at that moment, the _rest_ of the creatures attacked.

One leapt at him, but Sora destroyed it with a quick swipe of the blade. Then, he felt that same feeling tell him to duck and when he did, a creature flew right over his head and slammed against the wood planks, rolling to a stop a few feet away. It never had the chance to get up…

After dispatching the leftover creatures, Sora ran over to the Secret Place. He crawled through the short tunnel and found himself in the cavern.

At the far end of the cave was a short redheaded girl. "Kairi!" Sora cried in excitement and relief. "You're all right!"

Kairi turned around to face him and Sora was surprised at how… _bad_ she looked. Her eyes held a blank look and her mouth as open slightly. "Sora…" She said quietly and monotonously.

"Kairi? What's—" Sora was cut off as the _door_, the door that was once thought to be a mere piece of decoration, flew open. A howl erupted from it and suddenly Sora found himself fighting a strong wind. Kairi, however, didn't fight it whatsoever. She just let herself be carried by it, flying through the air, right towards Sora!

Sora held out his arms to catch her and he braced himself for the impact… that never came. He just watched as Kairi flew towards him and suddenly, without warning, flew straight _through_ him, as if she or _he_ weren't real.

Sora looked around in surprise and confusion, but before he could think about it, he felt the wind increase and he was blown back out of the Secret Place. As he tumbled along the ground, his head slammed into a rock and he fell in blissful unconsciousness…

-------------------------------------

Howling wind is what woke Sora finally. He looked around in a daze before his mind cleared. He found himself on a floating piece of… land? Yes! That's what it was! It was a chunk of dirt and land just floating in the sky! _No_, he thought as he looked around again. _This isn't sky. This is… this is… I don't know._ All around him was a swirling vortex of destruction. Its color was the same as the ball of darkness. Looking up, he found that the ball of darkness was actually directly _above_ him.

He scrambled to his feet and ran to the edge of the piece of land. He looked all around for some trace of his island or his friends, but all he found were the walls of the vortex. The rest was all gone.

He began inspecting the platform more. _That tree looks…_ His eyes widened and his heart raced. _No! This is part of Riku's island! But it _can't_ be! There's no way! If this were Riku's island, then it would mean that… everything else is destroyed…_

He sat down heavily and tears of exhaustion and confusion began to flow down his cheeks. "W-what's going on…? Why is all of this happening?" He noticed that the key-weapon was still in his hand. Its razor edges had returned back to the normal, squared-off edges.

He brought the key up to his face and inspected the weapon closely. On its handle was a name. Sora read it and his eyes widened again. _His_ name was on it! He brought the weapon down and sighed heavily. "So many questions…" He said.

Sora heard a heavy thud from behind him and whirled around. Behind him was a familiar creature… It hadn't grown since the dream. It hadn't changed in one bit! It was the exact same. Its hair was still wild. Its black arms were still muscular. Its eyes still glowed an eerie yellow. Its chest still had a huge hole in it the shape of a heart. It was the Darkside.

Sora's bottom lip quivered some and he backed up slowly. _Not_ _again… Please, not this again!_ But it was happening all over again. The battle with Darkside was beginning again.

-------------------------------------

Donald shuffled around a bit, trying to get comfortable in the chairs of the _Gummi Ship_. The ship had recently been built for inter-world travel. It was actually just made of things called _gummi blocks_, a strange substance that fell from the sky many years ago. These blocks would adhere to each other and could be used for many different purposes. Nearly indestructible, they were often used to build buildings or vehicles. The Gummi Ship was just another thing that could be built with the use of the gummi blocks.

Each block had a separate purpose. Some were used to give the ship ignition. Some were used for navigational purposes. Some were used for armor and shields. Nobody knew how they worked or where they came from, all they knew is that they were _useful_.

Donald sigh-quacked and finally just stood up, giving up on trying to find a comfortable way to sit in the chair. It obviously had _not_ been built for ducks!

In the distance, he could see what looked to be a _hole_ in space. He knew that this was actually an entrance to another _world_. Once they passed through this hole, they would find themselves in the world's dimension. Just recently did these holes appear, though. Before, the people in Disney Castle had only _known_ of the other worlds, but they hadn't been able to travel to them. There had been no way! But it seemed that for some reason, pathways to the worlds had been opened.

"Hold on to something, Donald. We're going through!" Goofy said in his unintelligent voice. Donald just quacked but ignored him. His tall friend shrugged and piloted the Gummi Ship through the 'hole' and immediately it was rocked back and forth, sending Donald Duck flying into the cockpit's window, _quacking_ the entire way…

-------------------------------------

_WHAM! _The ground shuddered as the Darkside slammed a dark fist into the ground, barely missing Sora. Sora rolled across the ground and finally brought himself back to his feet. He looked over to where the Darkside's hand was now part of the ground. Soon, the smaller creatures would rise from the dirt and the Darkside would begin the whole process over again. And Sora knew that the odds were he wouldn't live through another barrage of those energy blasts! _Now or never…_ He said. And with that, he ran to the entrenched hand and leapt onto it. The dark creatures screeched and snarled at him as he did so, but he ignored them, keeping the Darkside's neck in his sights.

He ran up the arm, his key brandished. The weapon had grown razor sharp again and it glowed with the same eerie light. As he ran, every once in a while, he'd slash the arm he was running on just for the sake of doing some added damage.

Finally, he reached the top of the arm. He was now a mere couple of feet from the creature's face. He prepared to make another leap onto its head, but he felt the arm he stood upon quiver as it released itself from its prison in the dirt.

He lost his footing and fell flat onto the arm, holding onto for dear life. However, to do so, he had to let go of the key… and his only way of defense. "No!" He cried as it clattered against the ground below. _It's all over…_ He told himself. _All over. I'll never see Kairi or Riku again. I'll never be able to tell my mom how much I love her… I'm going to die!_

The Darkside brought Sora up to its beady eyes and stared at him. Suddenly, its mouth opened wide and Sora could see rows of dark teeth. He could see an image of him being ripped apart by those teeth and he shuddered. _What a way to go…_ He said with an ironic smirk on his face. _I was always the one who tried to stay _out_ of trouble… Riku and Kairi were always the ones to get me in trouble! Yet, here I am, about to die and… where are they?_

His eyes hardened. "I can't give up now!" He said forcefully. He quickly stood up and ran the rest of the length up the Darkside's arm and jumped onto its head. "I have to find a way to help _them_!" With this new determination, Sora did the first thing that came to his mind… He began tugging on the Darkside's wild hair, trying to hurt it whatever way he could.

While doing this, he felt something strengthening him. Something familiar… Suddenly, in a flash, the _key_ materialized in his hand. He stared at it in surprise and barely ducked in time as Darkside's hand swiped across his head, trying to find the nuisance that was pulling on its hair.

Deciding to figure it all out later, Sora gripped the key tighter and raised it above his head. "Rest in… _peace_!" He yelled as he drove it down into the skull of the Darkside. There was a _flash_ and suddenly Sora found himself back on the dirt. The Darkside was no where to be seen…

He jumped to his feet and let out a whoop of victory. "I beat him! _Yeah_!" he raised the key above his head in a victorious position and promptly twirled it like a baton… and ending up dropping it onto the ground.

He looked at the fallen key and frowned. "I'll have to work on that later. First, I have to find a way out of here!" He didn't have to do the latter, though. The _way_ found _him_.

Sora felt the wind pick up. It wasn't the same wind as before, though. It seemed to come from the ground, flowing up in a rush. He soon realized that the _ground_ wasn't blowing; the ball of darkness was _pulling_!

He quickly grabbed onto the first thing he could find, a nearby tree. His feet left the ground and his body angled up to the darkness. The pulling grew stronger and stronger, causing Sora's grip on the tree to weaken. And suddenly, the tree just _snapped_, causing Sora to fly up to the darkness. As he rose, he felt something slam into his head and everything went black…


	3. Passion

**Chapter 3: Passion**

Donald and Goofy, dressed in the clothes of commoners, materialized in the place called Traverse Town. It was a fairly large town that was separated into three districts, plus an alleyway. Donald had been there before, mainly because his nephews—Huey, Dewey, and Louie—lived in Traverse Town with their rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck (who was actually a very extended family member). They ran the main item and weapon shop of the town.

His three twin nephews at one time had lived with Donald, however bad blood between them and Donald's explosive temper (along with quite a few humorous events involving everything from serious snowball fights to dangerous chases at the local amusement park) had convinced Donald that they'd be better off living with Scrooge.

Goofy, however, had never been outside of Disney Castle and the surrounding area, so he looked around at the dark town in awe. He looked up at the sky a shiver ran down his elongated spine. "Look, Donald! A star's goin' out!" He said in his slow-sounding voice.

Donald looked up and quacked in surprise. He watched as the star seemed to flicker and then flash brightly. The star disappeared from existence afterwards. Sadly, he said, "Come on. Let's hurry. We need to find that key!"

Goofy nodded… well… _goofily_ and followed Donald across the brick square that led to a junction of shops, restaurants, and houses. Pluto followed closely behind them, his snout near the ground sniffing for _something_.

Goofy watched as Pluto's nose sniffed more urgently and the yellow dog broke away from Goofy and Donald and into a nearby alley. "Um, Donald… Ya know, I bet'cha that—"

"Aw, what d'ya know, you big palooka?" Donald cut him off before Goofy could finish.

Goofy contemplated this for a few seconds. "What do I know?" He shrugged and whistled for Pluto. "Pluto! Come on, boy!" Without waiting for the dog to come out from the alley, he followed Donald into the market of Traverse Town…

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Sora was sore. _Very_ sore. Every muscle in his body screamed with pain with every single movement that he made. Even his _hair_ seemed to ache with unspoken pain.

He moaned loudly and then he felt something _wet_ slide across his face. Whatever it was, it was wet, sticky, and _warm_. Very warm. In fact, it felt very relaxing compared to the state he was in right now. But soon whatever it was got more urgent, leaving a thick blanket of what felt like water all over his face.

Finally, Sora's eyes opened slightly and he looked around in a daze. "What a dream…" He said softly, still disorientated from his adventure. His eyes closed again but suddenly he felt something slam into him roughly and his eyes shot open. The first words that escaped his lips were, "It wasn't a dream!"

He looked around and saw some kind of yellow dog, with its tongue hanging loosely from its mouth, standing on all fours right in from of him. Sora's face went slightly green when he realized what the sticky substance was and he immediately got to work cleansing his face from the dog's saliva.

He looked to the dog once more. "Hey, boy… Do you know where we are?" The dog gave him a normal dog-grin and then ran out of the alleyway that Sora was in. "Hey!" Sora cried and ran after him, not noticing the man who hid in the shadows, watching him…

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"So you see, I'm not _from_ this world! I'm lost!" Sora finished explaining to the man named Cid. Cid owned the local accessory shop. He had short blonde hair and stood a good foot taller than Sora. In his mouth was a lit cigarette.

"Well, kid," He said with a puff of smoke. "you've arrived in Traverse Town, which is on the world called Gaia! Lucky you landed here too! Gaia's mostly just forest, desert, and sea. Traverse Town is one of the only cities on the planet! Anywhere else and you might be dead!"

Sora fell silent for a few moments, processing everything he had been told. "So, gramps…"

"Don't call me gramps!"

"Then don't call me kid!"

The two glared at each other a moment longer before laughing together. Cid walked over to Sora and slapped him on the back. "You're all right, kid!"

Sora coughed slightly from the smoke originating from the cigarette and smiled. "Don't call me kid, and I can say the same about you! But if you don't get that _thing_ out of my face…"

Cid burst out laughing and promptly threw the cigarette into a nearby trashcan. "I was running out of cigarette on that one anyway." He said with a chuckle. He sighed however, when he saw yellow flames shoot up from the trashcan. "Not again…" He managed before walking calmly over to a nearby wall and pulling a fire distinguisher off its place and using it to put out the fire caused by the lit cigarette.

"Well, kid, that's one you did _not_ see." He said as he turned around to look at Sora… only to see that his store was empty. "Weird kid…" He said softly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter and another cigarette.

"Don't play stupid, Cid." A voice cut through the silence of the shop.

Cid jumped and then whipped around to face the man who hid in the shadows. "Darn it, Leon! Don't do that!"

Light glinted off of _Leon's_ weapon as he stepped into the light. He sighed heavily and rested his forehead in his palm. "This isn't good…" He started. Cid just snorted in reply. "How could the Keyblade choose such a weak master?"

Cid just shrugged and puffed out another breath of noxious smoke. "I dunno, but would you get out of my shop? You're scaring the moogle!" He said with a grin as he indicated a small, white, furry creature with what looked like a pompom rising above its head.

Leon just gave Cid and death glare and headed towards the exit. "I need to keep tabs on the kid anyway. He'll liable to get himself killed." With that, he left Cid and his moogle.

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Sora walked around the district, admiring the sight of the dark town. "It's so different than the island… There it's always warm and humid, here it's…" He shivered and realized grimly that he was still wearing his shorts and t-shirt. "Cold…"

He rubbed his bare arms to create some warmth, but Traverse Town, at night anyway, was very cold. Rubbing his arms did not help much.

"I wonder if Riku and Kairi are here somewhere?" He said out loud, looking around some more.

Deciding to try to find any trace of them, he walked around the district some more, finally coming to large door that said '_Second District_' on it. He quickly decided that maybe he'd find something in here and he walked into the Second District.

The first thing he noticed was that the Second District had two sections. One was the ground 'floor' where a fountain, many benches, and a small park could be seen. The other section of the district was on a raised platform that surrounded the lower section. Stores, houses, and even a hotel ringed this section, their windows illuminating nearly the entire place.

He began walking along the upper section when a blood curling scream pierced the silence and he felt someone slam into him roughly, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The two rolled down a nearby staircase and onto the brick ground of the lower district.

Sora was about to kick the man off of him when a soft _thud_ was heard. "No, please!" The man cried as the footfalls (that's what the thuds were, Sora realized) got closer. Sora immediately stopped struggling and his hand slowly reached for the 'key' that was strapped to his belt.

Although he couldn't see very well with the man on top of him, he could hear his rasping breaths and he knew that whatever the man was seeing was very dangerous.

Suddenly, the man's body jerked and lifted right off of Sora's body. At first he was relieved to be able to move freely again, but he soon wished that the man was still on top of him. For their was a _creature_ of some sort with a clawed hand _inside_ the man's chest!

The first thing Sora noticed about the creature was the silver helmet that covered its head and plunged its face into shadow. From in the shadows of the helmet, two yellow eyes looked at the man hungrily. It was dressed in what looked like a deep purple jumpsuit and its clawed hands were covered in skintight red gloves. On the creature's chest was some sort of symbol. It was an elongated _heart_ with an _X_ through it.

The creature threw the now dead man to the side and in its hand was what looked like a… ball of light? There was a bright flash and the ball of light disappeared and the creature focused on Sora.

The fourteen year old immediately grabbed his weapon and brought it up to a defensive position. It was just in time too, because the creature wasted no time in leaping at Sora. But when it slammed into the 'key', it was suddenly flung backward and into the brick wall that surrounded the lower section of Second District. It rose to its feet quickly and snarled loudly.

There was a soft whooshing sound and Sora watched in terror as more of the creature rose from the ground. Some were the same as the creature in front of Sora, and others were identical to the ones from his home!

They surrounded Sora now, each one with claws outstretched and yellow eyes staring at him hungrily. The first, a type that Sora had seen on the island, leapt towards Sora, but was immediately destroyed when the key's flat ends became razor sharp again and pierced its black skin.

A second one, one with a helmet, leapt at Sora, but as the boy tried to block, _another_ creature kicked him from behind and he was sent sprawling. The creature that leapt at him sailed over his head, only to land a few feet away.

Sora quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around nervously. The creatures' numbers were growing as more and more rose from the bricks. Some that rose were similar to the creatures that currently surrounded, but others varied in size and shape.

One of them, a huge one with a round belly and stubby arms and legs charged at him and crushed him against the wall. Sora cried out in pain and fell to the ground, exhausted, when the creature pulled away.

He slowly raised his head and terror gripped him when he saw the group of creatures advancing toward him. Each one of their eyes stared at him hungrily and a few had mouths rowed with teeth open. With his back against the wall, Sora had no chance to run and he knew that there was no way he could beat all of these creatures! His weapon was very affective against them, but the sheer _number_ of creatures would surely overwhelm him!

_It's over_… He though grimly as he saw the first creature leap at him, a cry of hunger erupting from its dark mouth…

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Donald, Goofy, and Pluto walked down a dark alley, on the constant lookout for the strange beings known as Heartless. "Gawrsh… This place is _spooky_." Goofy said nervously while keeping his Knight's Shield at a defensive position.

Donald quacked and glared at him. "Aw, phooey. I'm not scared!" He lied.

Meanwhile, a woman with brown hair and who had on a red dress that reached her ankles, walked up quietly behind the trio. She calmly tapped Donald on the shoulder.

Donald quacked loudly and jumped onto Goofy's back in fear. "Goofy, help me!" He quacked into Goofy's ears.

Goofy just whipped around, ending up throwing Donald onto the cold bricks of the ground, and faced the girl. "Who are you?" He asked dubiously, ignoring Donald who was now quacking and muttering angrily.

The girl didn't answer the question. Instead, she just asked a question of her own: "Did the King send you?"

Goofy opened his mouth to reply but then he closed it, not knowing whether or not to answer truthfully. He looked towards Donald who was looking at him as well.

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Leon, known as Squall Leonhart by his closest of friends, burst the doors to the Second District open and leapt off the raised section of the district and hacked through hordes of Heartless with his gunblade in hand.

He began moving himself towards Sora who had his back to the wall. Suddenly a large and fat Heartless blocked his path. It was commonly known as a Large Body. It charged at him, it's huge belly outward. Leon simply smirked, raised his gunblade, and shot off a blast of energy the Large Body's way. It fell in a heap and slid across the ground, taking out quite a few Heartless with it, finally stopping a few feet away from Leon. Then it disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving the path to Sora wide open.

Leon quickly ran through the opening of Heartless and grabbed the boy right before a Heartless commonly known as a Soldier killed him with its razor sharp claws.

"What? Hey!" Sora cried as Leon literally _threw_ him onto the raised platform of the district and then flung himself over the brick wall. Not wasting any time talking to Sora, he grabbed the boy by his shirt, lifted him off the ground and started running towards the entrance of the First District, the only place where Heartless didn't roam thanks to Leon and his friends' efforts to keep them at bay.

He ran through the doors, dropped Sora, and started closing the large double doors. On the other side, Heartless was rising and charging at Leon and Sora. But he managed to slam the doors shut and lock them before the hordes could overwhelm him.

"You're real stupid, kid." He said softly without turning around to face Sora. "Taking on that many Heartless… how foolish _are_ you?"

He could feel Sora's glare and he smirked when Sora spoke. "Hey! I could have taken them!"

"They would have kept coming in endless amounts. Never stopping."

"Who are you?" Sora asked, ignoring Leon's words.

Leon whipped around to face him, his long brown hair flying in all directions and then settling back into its place. "And they'll come after _you_. Endless amounts, all hungry for one thing—your heart. Know why? It's because of _that_." He gestured at the key. "The Keyblade… But why…?" He got a contemplating look on his face. "Why would it choose an inexperienced kid like you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded, getting aggravated by the man's cryptic words and insults.

Leon looked at him, annoyance flashing in his icy blue eyes. "Never mind." He started. "Let me see that Keyblade."

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Yuffie Kisaragi sighed heavily at Leon's bluntness. "You never _did_ get it, you big oaf…" She whispered to herself from her perch on top of Cid's shop. "He's not about to be bullied around." She thought about going down there and interrupting the upcoming fight before it even began, but she decided to see just how experienced this Sora actually was!

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Sora's eyes narrowed. "What? No way! You aren't getting this!" He brought the Keyblade into a defensive position and he steeled himself for a fight.

The man sighed heavily and rested his hand on his forehead in exasperation. "All right." He spoke. "Have it your way." He brought himself into a familiar gunblade stance and readied himself for battle.

Sora and Leon just stared at each other for a long time. The Keyblade seemed to radiate inner strength while Leon's gunblade just _was_ strong in every which way! Sora knew that he was in for the battle of his lifetime.

Suddenly, Leon sprang forward bringing the gunblade down in a wicked slash that should have caused Sora to crumble under normal circumstances. However, with the power of the Keyblade running through him, he blocked the blow, but not without some serious effort.

Sora's brow furled with concentration as Leon pressed on with the gunblade, weakening Sora's defensive. He knew that if he didn't do something soon, he was doomed! Deciding not to forgo the battle of strength, he jumped back, just barely dodging the gunblade as it slid free of the Keyblade and momentum carried it to the brick walkway, which caused white sparks to flash.

"Let your guard down." He said with a wry smile before spinning around and trying for a horizontal slash to Leon's hip. But the only thing the Keyblade smashed against was the gunblade as Leon effortlessly blocked the attack.

"Wrong." The older man said a look of serene strength on his face. This time, _he_ was the one to jump back. "You are too inexperienced to know the difference between letting your guard down and luring an enemy into a trap."

Sora scowled at him. "Hey! I've trained for sword fighting half my life! I am _not_ inexperienced!" He leapt at Leon and found that the gunblade once again was protecting the man from any harm.

"You are letting yourself be controlled by your emotions. You'll end up impaled on my gunblade if you aren't careful." Leon suddenly threw Sora back onto his backside. The Keyblade flew out of his hand and clattered on the ground ten feet away.

He jumped at the chance and the gunblade sliced through the air on its descent upon Sora. Leon figured that this was it, but he did not expect to find the _Keyblade_ blocking his attacks. Yet, in a flash, it appeared in Sora's hand, just in the nick of time, and the gunblade crashed against it, causing sparks to light up their faces.

Leon stepped back and smirked. "It rushes to its master's aid. It is a remarkable weapon indeed. But why would it choose you…?"

Sora stood up and glared at Leon. "What are you talking about?!" Leon just gave him a deadly glare and got into a defensive stance. "Come, Keyblade Master, show me why it chose you."

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_A dark entity flew high above Traverse Town looking down at the two who fought. Each of them had a strong heart. And although their fight seemed to just be one of brute strength and speed, the entity knew that it went deeper than that. It was a battle of heart. The strongest heart would win for sure._

_But the entity did not care for their hearts at the moment. No, their hearts, which would usually catch the attention of it and every one of its brothers, did not seem to concern it one bit. Its focus was on the Blade. The horrible Blade that was used to slay so many of its brothers. The entity was afraid of the Blade. And because of that fear, it would destroy the master of the Blade. Without a master, the Blade would be nothing more than a piece of metal. Yes, the master would die indeed._

_And so the entity began to descend upon the two fighters. But before it could fully solidify (for at the moment, it had no physical form) and reach them, the Blade's radiance disappeared and the entity was left confused…_

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Sora rushed forward with inhuman speed and the Keyblade crashed against the gunblade roughly, causing Leon's arms to quiver. _So, _this_ is the power of the Keyblade! I knew that he was holding back!_ He thought to himself as he forced Sora back a few steps.

Meanwhile, Sora was utterly confused as to what had changed inside of him. All of a sudden, his speed, strength, and stamina had all risen to impossible levels and he was left with power unlike anything he had ever experienced before!

He rushed forward again, a blur of color, but once again he was denied by the gunblade. Whoever this man actually was, he had the experience of a warrior. _Probably trained in fighting like this from birth…_ Sora thought wryly as it finally dawned on him what kind of warrior he was up against.

He unleashed upon the man a combo of slashes and jabs that not even Riku could have blocked. This man blocked everyone except for the last. The last one he simply dodged. Sora felt the flat side of the gunblade hit him on the side and he stumbled slightly, only regaining his balance once the man was safely out of range for attacks.

"So, why is that called a gunblade?" Sora asked, suddenly interested in the weapon that the man held. He didn't answer, but only looked coolly at Sora.

"Aw, come on. You engaged me in a big fight for no good reason at all! I deserve at least _one_ answer!" Sora whined still keeping his guard up.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Would you like a demonstration?" He replied equally as coolly as his face portrayed. Before Sora could answer, he raised the gunblade up, the tip of the weapon aiming at Sora's face, and suddenly there was a bright _flash_. For Sora, the world around him disappeared and everything went black…

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"You could have killed him!" Yuffie scolded him as she jumped down from the accessory shop and onto the ground behind Leon.

Leon didn't even turn to look at her; instead he walked over to Sora and pulled the Keyblade out of his hand. "Things are worse than we thought... A lot worse." He said watching with interest as the razor sharp edges of the Keyblade disappeared, leaving the squared ends.

"Aw… he did all right against you!" Yuffie stated, already knowing the next words that would escape Leon's lips.

"I went easy on him."

"I went easy on him." Yuffie said at the same time, earning a glare from Leon.

"Don't do that." He said coldly before hefting Sora over his shoulders and walking towards the Second District and the hotel inside it.

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_"Hey! You did really well against him! You could have beaten him if he didn't cheat like that!"_

_"Kairi?"_

_"Next time, watch out for that cheap shot. No pun intended. I'm sure you'll beat him next time, Sora! And who knows? Maybe one day you'll be able to beat Riku too!"_

_"Kairi, is that really you?"_

_"Oh, and next time take a hint! It was called a gunblade! What'd you think it would do? Fertilize your garden?"_

_"Wha…?"_

_"It's time for you to wake up. Talk to you later, Sora!"_

_"Wait, Kairi! Don't leave!"_

"Come on, you lazy bum. Wake up!" Sora's eyes opened slowly and in his blurred vision, he saw _Kairi_ standing in front of him, hands on her hips and with a grin on her face. "You okay?" She asked a little worried.

"I guess…" Sora said, rubbing his head. His vision was still very blurry.

"If you want to know, those creatures that attacked you back there are after the Keyblade. But in reality, it's your heart they want! You have the heart of a Keyblade master and—"

"I'm so glad you're all right, Kairi!" Sora said, cutting her off.

"Kairi? Who's Kairi?" She asked, her face becoming more worried. Sora blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, quite confused at the moment. When he looked at her again, the image of Kairi had been replaced with the image of a teenage girl, probably a little taller than him. She had black hair and deep blue eyes. On her head, she wore a white headband that kept her black locks from falling down over her eyes. She also wore a green tube top with straps to hold it in place. A yellow scarf adorned her neck. Her arms were half covered by her long gloves that had the fingers cut out. And her last article of visible clothing was the extremely short shorts that she wore.

"I'm Yuffie. The great _ninja_ Yuffie!" She stated with a grin. Sora just scratched his head. She sighed exasperatingly and looked behind her. "I think you overdid it, Squall!"

_Squall?_ Sora wondered. Suddenly, the man he had battled in the First District came into view. "That's Leon." He replied coldly, not bothering to even look at the two.

Sora's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but Yuffie, knowing what he was about to ask, spoke first. "We had to get the Keyblade away from you to shake those Heartless. They track you because of it."

Leon picked up the Keyblade and held it level with his eyes. Suddenly, in a flash of light, it disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Sora's hand. Sighing, he spoke. "It's the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long. They'll find you… The Keyblade Master… It's still hard to believe that it would choose _you_ of all people."

"Hey!"

"But I suppose beggar's can't be choosers."

"Why don't you start making some sense?! What's going on around here?" Sora demanded, his face becoming red with frustration. Leon just looked at him and opened his mouth to speak.

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"Okay, so you know that there are many more worlds than just your world and this one, right?" The woman named Aerith asked.

Donald quacked and then nodded. "But they're supposed to be a secret!" Goofy added, his hands covering his mouth like he was sinning just by talking of them.

"They've _been_ a secret because the worlds were never connected. Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed…"

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"The Heartless?" Sora asked, rubbing his scalp.

"The ones who attacked you, remember?" Yuffie stated.

"I can remember many things attacking me… _including_ Leon." Sora said while glaring at the older man. Yuffie stifled a laugh.

"Enough." Leon said sternly and then continued with the explanation. "The Heartless are those without hearts."

"Wow, I would have never guessed."

Leon glared at Sora and continued coolly. "The darkness in hearts—that's what attracts them…" Yuffie smiled and at the same time as Leon said (in her best imitation Leon-voice), "And there is darkness in every heart." Leon snorted roughly and gave her a glare that could have frozen the spine of anybody. She just smiled sweetly at him and winked.

Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Hey… Have you ever heard of a guy named Ansem?"

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"_An-sem_?" Goofy asked, pronouncing the word slowly.

"He was studying the Heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report." Aerith said softly, as if saddened by something.

"Gawrsh… can we see it?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.

"No. Ansem hid it somewhere." The brunette answered.

"Hid it?" Donald inquired.

"On some world. I don't know which."

"Maybe the King went to find 'em!" Goofy cried loudly, causing Donald to glare at him and Aerith to laugh softly.

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly."

Goofy looked at Donald. "We've got to find him quick!"

Donald nodded but then sighed. "_First_ we must find that 'key'!"

"That's right, the Keyblade." Aerith stated.

Donald saw Pluto scratching at the door that led to the next room over and he rolled his eyes. "Goofy, do something to keep that dog busy!"

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"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter _what_." Leon said uncaringly.

"I didn't ask for this!" Sora said angrily. He was suddenly homesick for his life back at Destiny Islands.

"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you!" Yuffie said in reply.

"So tough luck." Leon finished earning another glare from Sora.

"How did all this happen…?" Sora wondered aloud. "I remember being in my room and…" His eyes widened and he shot up from his sitting position on the bed. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island! Mom! Riku!" And then a bit softer, "Kairi…"

"You know what? I really don't know." Leon said, not bothering to look at Sora. In truth, he knew exactly what had happened, but he decided against mentioning it at the moment.

Sora began pacing around the room in distress. He began muttering to himself about how he'd find his friends and would force them to go back to the island with him. He felt Leon's eyes burning into his back and he turned to look at him. "What?"

"You'd better prepare yourself. The Heartless will find us soon."

"Prepare myself?" Sora wondered aloud, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

"To fight for your life. Do you think you can handle it?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but Yuffie's cut him off. "_Leon_! Look!" They whipped around to look at Yuffie and found that a Heartless, one that Leon called a _Soldier_ had risen from the ground. Sora was willing to bet that more would be coming soon.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon yelled while pointing at the door that led into the adjoining room. She nodded and ran towards it.

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When Goofy had no luck getting Pluto away from the door, Donald quacked in frustration and walked over to the yellow dog. "Now listen here, you stupid dog. If you don't stop with the distractions, I'll—" Suddenly Pluto jumped away from the door. However, before Donald could ponder the reason why, the door flew open quickly and flattened Donald against the wall.

"Yuffie?" Aerith asked when she burst into the room.

"The Heartless are attacking!" Yuffie cried as she ran past Aerith and out of the room. Aerith quickly followed, forgetting all about Donald or Goofy.

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Leon looked at Sora, silently telling him that they would have to fight their way out. "Sora! Are you ready?"

Sora looked at the Soldier and watched as its yellow eyes focused on the Keyblade, which now glowed and was razor sharp. "Ready as I'll ever be!" He said, not really feeling ready.

"Then let's go!" Leon yelled before slamming the gunblade into the Heartless, sending it crashing through the window and out into the alleyway below. Before Sora could say anything, Leon jumped out the shattered window, following the Heartless.

Sora now found that he was alone. He watched in fear as more Heartless began springing up from the ground, soon surrounding him. "Now or never…" He said quietly. Then with the superhuman speed that the Keyblade supplied him with, he ran forward and jumped out of the window and into battle…


	4. Friendship

**Chapter 4:Friendship**

Sora hit the concrete roughly and rolled like he had been taught to help absorb the shock. When he rose to his feet, he felt someone grab him and throw him to the ground. Seconds later, another type of Heartless flew overhead. It looked somewhat like the Soldier Heartless, but there were some big differences. For one, it had two leathery wings that jutted from its back. And it had a leather hand one that covered nearly its entire face. Goggles were situated over its eyes and on top of the hat rose a strange propeller of some sort.

"Ow!" Sora cried as he felt whoever threw him to the ground fall on top of him. He caught a glance of the person and found that it was Leon.

"It's called an Air Soldier. Weak but very dangerous. It will often swoop down from high up and kill its prey before he can even react." Leon explained while looking towards the winged Heartless. "Start paying attention! We can't afford to have you killed!" He said suddenly before downing the Air Soldier via the _gun_ part of his gunblade.

"Oh yeah, thanks." Sora muttered as he got up after Leon rolled off of him. He saw a burst of red energy fly from the gunblade's barrel and he watched as yet another one of those _Air Soldiers_ died in a puff of black smoke.

Sora clenched tightly onto his Keyblade and when the next Air Soldier came swooping in, it found itself impaled on the blade. Sora watch it as it looked down to where the Keyblade jutted from its abdomen and then it looked up at Sora. Its yellow eyes glowed brightly from behind the goggles and soon they began to dim. Then in a puff of smoke, it vanished. Sora however could still see the yellow eyes burning into his soul…

"Sora, watch out!" Leon's voice slammed into Sora's mind and instinctively he ducked, watching out for another Air Soldier. Instead, he felt something slam into him from behind and he fell forward.

Not bothering to see whether it was Leon or not, he rolled over to see what Leon had called a _Shadow_ Heartless glaring down at him, claws ready to tear his heart from him. He knocked it off with the Keyblade and then before it could get up, nailed it to the ground with the Keyblade. It disappeared.

Sora cleared his mind of thoughts and pressed forward into the fray, slashing wildly with the Keyblade. He called up the speed and strength of the Keyblade and soon was decimating the Heartless forces. No Heartless could possibly protect itself from the Keyblade! But soon he found that no matter how many he destroyed, more kept coming. He was already tiring and Heartless were rising faster than he was putting them down!

"Leon! There's too many!" He called out before crashing the Keyblade into a Soldier. Leon looked back at him and grunted in agreement. Then he slashed another three Heartless and began pushing for the entrance to the Second District, from where they could make their way to the First District, where Yuffie had probably already taken care of the Heartless there.

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Goofy slowly pulled the door away from Donald who was flattened against the wall. The duck gave out a small quack, but other than that he didn't move at all. "Come on, Donald! We have to go!" Goofy cried before peeling his friend off the wall.

The two ran out of the hotel room and out of the hotel itself seconds later. Turning a sharp left, they ran across the platform towards a building with a tall steeple. "Come on, in here!" Donald quacked before rushing into the building, only to find a room with all kinds of strange contraptions. It was extremely colorful and bright.

"Gawrsh… It's so… so…"

"Come on, you big palooka! We still have to find that key!"

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"Sora! Hurry!" Leon cried as he cleared the path out of the alleyway and into the Second District. He took off like a shot, Sora at his heels, and the multitude of Heartless behind him.

_KA-BOOM!_ A powerful blast of energy exploded from the muzzle of the gunblade and Sora resisted the urge to cover his ears. He hadn't noticed the volume of the gunblade during the fray in the alley.

The blast of energy slammed into a Large Body and killed it, causing it to fall back and crush a few Shadows before disappearing into the black smoke of the Heartless.

Suddenly, Leon fell forward. Ironically, it wasn't from a Heartless but just a loose brick on the ground. Regardless of what caused it, it still stunned Leon slightly and gave the Heartless a chance to swarm him.

Sora rushed towards him, but an Air Soldier hindered his progress. He quickly dispatched it, but before he could reach Leon, some of the swarm surrounded _him_, blocking the view of Leon completely.

And then, help was there. A throwing star slammed into an Air Soldier, causing it to fall in a heap of smoke. It was immediately followed by another three stars, which cleared out the Heartless enough for Sora to finish them off and rush to Leon's aid.

He had scratches, shallow and deep, all over his body and it looked like his ankle had been sprained. Squall Leonhart, now known as Leon, was _not_ happy. Yet he still fought, cutting through waves and waves of Heartless. Yet they kept coming. And while there was an infinite amount of Heartless, there was only one of Leon. He couldn't keep up the fight for long.

But before he could ponder that much longer, many Heartless disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by the images of Sora and Yuffie. Both of them wore huge grins on their faces. And why shouldn't they smile? They _had_ after all just saved Leon instead of vise versa! The smiles soon melted away when Leon gave them a glare that would freeze a fireball solid.

Leon limped forward, still presenting a formidable opponent to anything daring to cross his path. Sora and Yuffie followed, destroying anything left after Leon.

Soon enough, they reached the safe haven of the First District. And immediately, all three of them collapsed against the door. They had earned their rest.

-------------------------------------

"The Heartless are multiplying rapidly. I'm afraid if we don't find out why soon, not even the First District will be safe from them." Aerith stated the obvious. Leon merely grunted a reply.

They were all gathered in Cid's house in the First District. Leon was sitting on Cid's bed at the moment. His ankle, along with the rest of his wounds, was bandaged.

"So, let's find out why!" Sora interjected excitedly. He was ignored.

"What do we do?" Yuffie asked, earning a glare from the fourteen-year-old boy.

"What _can_ we do?" Cid asked. "With Leon out of commission, we've lost our greatest fighter! Yuffie can't take on those Heartless by herself and I'm getting a little too old for this close combat fighting thing."

Leon snorted and said, "Moron…" under his breath. Out loud he said, "I'm _not_ out of commission."

"Oh, yes, you are!" Yuffie said. "You're staying right in that bed until that ankle heals fully! You'll get yourself killed out there if you aren't at full capacity!"

"You're forgetting about me." Sora said loudly. He was once again ignored.

"Stop acting like an over-protective mother." Leon said sternly. Yuffie smirked and quickly punched him in the ankle, causing him to yelp in surprise and pain.

"You _are_ staying in bed!" Yuffie said again. Leon merely glared at her but didn't reply.

Sora sighed heavily and banged his Keyblade on the wooden floor, causing every eye in the room to focus on him. "How about this? _I'll_ go find out what's causing them to appear quickly! It'll be easier, I think!"

Cid laughed loudly. "_You_? _You_ think you can take on the Heartless? You'll be dead before you even reach the—"

"All right." Leon's calm voice stopped Cid immediately. "Take your Keyblade and find out what's causing it." He looked at Yuffie. "Yuffie, go with him. He still doesn't understand the Heartless well, and he'll probably need your knowledge of them."

The room fell silent and Sora smiled slowly. "Let's go now, before we're ambushed or something." said the boy before tightening his grip on the Keyblade and leaving the house. Yuffie followed after grabbing a bag of ninja stars.

Aerith looked at Leon. "I hope you know what you're doing." Leon didn't reply but in his mind, he found himself hoping so as well.

-------------------------------------

"So, Yuffie, how'd you get hooked up with a stiff like Leon?'" Sora asked as the two walked through the Second District. She didn't reply for a while.

"Well… When our world was destroyed, we all ended up here. We didn't know each other at the time though. We actually met once when we both ended up trapped in the Third District by the Heartless. It was strange. They just surrounded us and only attacked when we attacked _them_. We found out why moments later though…"

"What was it?"

"Well, this huge Heartless suddenly fell from the sky! It was actually a big suit of armor! We dubbed it Guard Armor."

"Why'd you call it that?"

Yuffie frowned. "You know… I don't really know… Ask Squ—Leon. He's the one who came up with it."

"So, how'd you beat it?" asked the curious teenager. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Well, we simply attacked it! It wasn't easy, mind you, but Leon and me together were able to take it down! Of course, I could have done it alone though!"

Sora laughed and looked around as they walked through the Second District. "Hey… does it seem strange to you that there's no Heartless around here? They're all… gone!"

Yuffie noticed that he was right. "Yeah… it does…" She snapped her fingers and got a look of thoughtfulness on her features. "I'm _sure_ I've seen this happen before… What was it…? Something happened afterwards…"

Sora interrupted her. "Look, it's the Third District!" She looked up and sure enough, they had ventured through the alley leading to the large double doors that were the entrance to the Third District.

"Wow." She said softly. "That was fast."

Sora grinned at her. "It's because you're so used to fighting Heartless while walking towards the Third District, I guess!"

"Maybe…" Yuffie said. Something at the back of her mind was bothering her. Something warned her not to walk through those doors. Something told her that whatever was behind those doors could prove deadly. That very something was the same thing that told her that the situation she was in was _very_ familiar.

-------------------------------------

_It saw that the Keyblade was very close this time. And the entity felt an undeniable hunger for the Master's heart. It **had** to have that heart—the heart deemed worthy by the accursed blade._

_So bright in the world of darkness that it lived. While all hearts shone with their own brilliance, this one was as bright as a hundred suns. All because of that Keyblade. It strengthened his heart!_

_But no matter, it would soon be feasting on that very heart. Maybe this would quench its everlasting hunger. Maybe this would change this entity back to what it used to be. Maybe… maybe… Most likely not. But the entity did not realize that. It did not think in the way people with hearts thought. All it knew was that unending hunger and the desire to quench it._

_And so it began to reach for the Master again. It called its minions to surround him and his friend of a weaker heart. And then it began to take shape, beginning with the armored helmet and moving onto the other pieces of armor…_

-------------------------------------

"Are you crazy?!" Donald quacked as Goofy hopped from the rooftop of the strange building they had just been in to another.

"Nope." Donald's comrade said before running forward and hopping onto another rooftop.

"Get back here!" Donald screamed as he hopped up and down to emphasize his point. But if Goofy heard him, he didn't show it. With a overly dramatic sigh, Donald followed, hopping across the rooftops.

"What are you doing?" He asked once he reached where Goofy had stopped. His friend look back at Donald and smiled.

"Just checking something out." Then he stepped into an empty house through an open window.

"Goofy!" Donald quacked in frustration. Following Goofy, he walked through the deserted house and out another window. They ended up on a small ledge over looking the expansive Third District.

And then, the duo found themselves surrounded by two small black creatures with glowing yellow eyes.

"Gawrsh, are these the Heartless guys?" He looked to Donald who looked back up at him.

"Let's get 'em, Goofy!" His duck friend cried while swinging wildly at a Heartless with his magician's rod. It dodged easily. And then, in a pincer attack, the two Heartless that surrounded Donald and Goofy rushed forward and grabbed them. Then, with a heave, they threw the friends over the ledge and down towards two people who stood below…

-------------------------------------

The Third District was a lavishly lit place. Neon lights were everywhere. And Sora loved every single square inch of this place.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" He said as he turned around in slow circles so he could see the entirety of the district. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Keep your eyes open."

Sora looked at her. "You sound like Leon." This, of course, caused her to frown and then with a smile, stick her tongue out at him.

"Shut up!" She said playfully. "But really," She grew serious again. "Something doesn't feel right about all of this."

The sound of two people yelling and screaming filled her ears and she looked around. Sora did so as well. But there was nobody around. But the yells got louder and louder and soon Yuffie realized where they were coming from… straight _up_. Looking up, she saw the two figures falling quickly, but, before she could react, they landed straight on Sora.

"Ow!" Sora cried as he collapsed under the weight of the two. Yuffie now had a better look at the two who had fallen. One was a strange duck covered with white feathers and the other was a tall, black furred… dog-like creature. "What just—" Sora was cut off by the two.

"The Key!" Donald and Goofy cried at the same time. They quickly got off Sora and brushed themselves off. Donald opened his mouth to speak to the disoriented Sora, but a yell of frustration interrupted him.

Yuffie cursed loudly as the memories of that fateful day when she met Leon came back to her. "Shoot! Sora, get ready!" Chills ran down her back as she watched as Shadows and Soldiers arose from the ground, lining the edges of the Third District.

"What is it?" Sora asked as he looked at the Heartless that surrounded the four.

"Yeah! What's goin' on?" Donald quacked.

"It's Guard Armor! It's back!"

"_What_?!" Sora cried, but suddenly without warning two gigantic purple boots clattered to the ground. They were followed by two metal gloves with claws for fingers of the same size. Then, at last, the body, a large purple cylinder, and its armored head crashed to the ground.

"It's _Guard Armor_!" Yuffie screamed as the armored pieces floated up into the air and formed the body of the large Guard Armor.

The large Heartless took one step towards the four and suddenly it was upon them! Twisting its body around, it swung its arms with blinding speed, leaving a purple trail of light behind them. If it wasn't for the power of the Keyblade and Sora's quick thinking, he would have already been down for the count.

Quickly, he brought the Keyblade to block the arms and surprisingly the arms clanked off the Keyblade. But other than that, the Guard Armor had not been affected at all. Sora had just managed to buy himself and the others a few seconds of time.

"Attack the body!" Yuffie cried before back flipping through the air, releasing quite a few ninja stars in Guard Armor's direction. Many of them bounced off his heavy armor, but a few pierced. No damage was done though.

"Goofy! Block me!" Donald said to his friend as he pointed his rod at the Guard Armor. The end glowed red for a moment and then a red fireball flew from it and crashed into the large body of the Guard Armor. It left a large black spot on it, but it still didn't seem that Guard Armor was hurting in the least bit.

Sora was amazed to see magic like that though. Never having seen any kind of magic before, it was a pleasant surprise to find that one of his allies was able to wield it. He only hoped that the duck could do more damage than a black spot!

The Guard Armor took a step towards the nuisance that was Donald and swung a clawed fist in his direction. Only Goofy's shield was able to block the blow, but the shield ended up on the other side of the district because of it. Forgetting Donald completely, Goofy ran after it.

Donald looked around nervously when he realized that there was nobody else around to protect him. He pointed his rod at the Heartless again and prepared to hit him with a stronger Blizzard attack, but before he could let go, the Guard Armor's fist closed around him and he was lifted off the ground.

"Put me down! You stupid Heartless, put me _down_! Let me go!" Donald quacked in fury as he pounded against the metal hand. In reply the Guard Armor began to squeeze him slightly, causing Donald to quack even louder. "Quit that, you dumb thing!" He gave another loud quack, this one including some pain, as the Guard Armor squeezed tighter. He soon found that his quacks got weaker and weaker the tighter Guard Armor squeezed.

Sora, reacting to Donald's cries of fury and pain, jumped, using the power of the Keyblade to propel him farther than he had ever jumped before, and slammed the powerful blade down on Guard Armor's fist…

…And the fist simply fell off. It just fell to the ground, fingers still squeezing Donald.

Landing next to the hand, Sora quickly got to work prying the fingers away from the choking duck. He had just succeeded when Yuffie screamed from behind him. Spinning around to see what the problem was, all he saw was Guard Armor's other fist flying towards his face.

Stars exploded from all around him as he found himself lifting off the ground and flying through the air until he crashed into the far wall of the Third District. With a yell of pain, he fell to the floor in a heap.

He stayed like that for a while. He simply couldn't move. He couldn't even open his eyes. _Is this… is this what it feels to die?_ He wondered. He heard heavy footsteps coming in his direction and he realized that Guard Armor was coming to finish the job. _I'm sorry… Kairi. I couldn't find you…_

Suddenly, he felt a warm rush through his body. All the pain that was once there disappeared as quickly as he had come and he found that he could move freely! He opened his eyes too see the last of a green wisp of light disappear. The duck's rod glowed bright green for a few seconds. The duck had just healed him, Sora realized with a smile. Giving his new ally a thumb's up, he turned back to Guard Armor, which was indeed coming his way.

"You won't get away with that again!" Sora cried, letting the full power of the Keyblade flow through his veins strengthening him in every single way. Guard Armor's fists (the one that had fallen was now a part of the body again) spun quickly again, threatening to destroy Sora once and for all.

But Sora hardly moved. Time seemed to slow as the fist came closer, but even as it came within ten feet of Sora, he did not budge. He simply stared at it as it came closer and closer. And then when it was within a few feet, Sora brought the Keyblade down upon it with a speed faster than the fist itself moved!

There was a loud clang and Sora watched in amazement as the fist that had just threatened to kill him flew away from the body and crashed into another wall, a dented and broken mess. With the trademark puff of black smoke from the Heartless, it disappeared.

Cries of joy and victory reached his ears and he grinned at his friends before turning his attention back to the opponent that was still very much so formidable.

The Guard Armor seemed slightly confused when it realized that its arm was completely gone. But it recovered quickly, its attention locking onto Sora once more.

The teenager waited for his opponent to make a move. He waited for the last fist to come flying in his direction, but it never came. They simply stood there, staring each other down for a long while. Guard Armor seemed to have frozen in place.

Becoming impatient, Sora let loose a war cry and jumped up into the air, despite Yuffie's scream of warning, and attacked Guard Armor with a flurry of midair attacks. Each time the Keyblade hit the Guard Armor's body, it left a large dent in the metal and Sora was quite satisfied that he was doing damage.

All of a sudden though, his movements stopped. Metal claws enveloped him and he felt the life being squeezed out of him. "No!" He cried as he fought the fist.

Fireballs exploded against the Guard Armor's back, but it paid Donald no attention. Instead it brought Sora up to its metal helmet and peered at him with its beady yellow eyes. Without words, it told Sora that his fate had been sealed…

And then with amazing speed, he threw the boy to the ground and leapt up, falling back onto him with his full weight…

-------------------------------------

"No!" Yuffie cried as she watched Guard Armor dispatch of Sora with ease. There's no way he would have been able to survive that kind of weight. He would have had every ounce of life squeezed from his body. The Keyblade master was now a bloody spot on the ground.

Yet, when the Guard Armor rose slowly to its feet again, there was no blood where Sora had been. A flash of hope appeared in her heart and she smiled. But her smile disappeared as the Guard Armor found her with its eyes and began walking toward her.

Readying some more throwing stars, she was prepared for the battle ahead. Positioning herself on the balls of her feet, she waited until the last possible moment to leap out of the way of Guard Armor's fist.

But that moment never came. For in a flash of sparks, the arm was sent flying away from the Heartless and was put through a similar situation as the first one.

Sora now stood in front of her, bent low with his Keyblade in an offensive position. His clothes were a little tattered, but other than that, he was fine. Cries of surprise erupted from Donald and Goofy who had both thought this boy was finished. "Sora!" Yuffie cried in equal surprise.

He turned around and grinned at her. "What? You think I'm gonna let a little body slam finish me? In fact, I had moved out of the way by the time—"

"Look out!" Yuffie said, cutting him off. Unwilling to be caught off guard again, Sora immediately jumped out of the way as the large 'head' of the Guard Armor flew from its place on the large body and flew straight towards where Sora had just been. But instead of being hit, Sora swung his Keyblade roughly batting it straight back to the Guard Armor.

There was a loud _clank_ and it stumbled back, its head hovering in front of it. When it stopped, the head went back to its normal position hovering above the body and the four were given a view of the damage done. There was a huge _dent_ right in the middle of Guard Armor's chest and whatever that had caused made the large Heartless slow down considerably.

And Sora, along with the other three, took full advantage of that. Sora went straight for the body, hacking at it with the Keyblade over and over again, only stopping to fall back to the ground and then jump back up using the Keyblade's power to give him more strength. Yuffie stayed back, throwing stars flying from her hands whenever she saw an opening. Goofy worked hard to trip up the Guard Armor by slamming into its legs over and over again with his shield while Donald stayed back as well, blasting away with assorted magic attacks.

And then it all ended when Sora jumped even higher than ever, upper cutting the Guard Armor's head with his Keyblade. The head flew up vertically. It just went straight up, higher and higher. And then it began its descent, falling with blinding speed.

_BANG! CRAAAAACK!_ The head crashed right back into place, but instead of hovering above, it was going at such a speed that it slammed right into the 'neck' of the Guard Armor. But it didn't stop there. Instead, the head sunk deep into the body, creating a visible crack in the metal body.

It emitted no roar of pain or anguish. Instead, it just stood there, its head in its chest, completely still. And then a shaft of light shot out from the crack in its armor. And the four watched as that shaft of light seemingly ate away at the Guard Armor until it finally disappeared in a puff of smoke. In its place was a large and shining heart that flew up into the dark sky and out of their view…

-------------------------------------

"So… you were looking for me?" Sora asked the two standing in front of them.

They have broken away from Yuffie, who was distracted by yelling at Leon for even daring to come over to the Third District even though he didn't get hurt at all on the way.

"Uh-huh!" The two replied at the same time. Their voices nearly made Sora burst out laughing. From the duck's quacking voice to the dog-like person's slower voice, they were the truest odd couple that Sora had ever met.

"They too have been searching for the Keyblade and its wielder, Sora." The teenager jumped slightly at Leon's voice and found that he now stood right behind him.

Goofy looked at Sora then to Leon. Catching the look in Leon's eye, he turned his glance back to Sora. "Hey, why don't you come with us? We can visit other worlds on our ship!"

Sora's eyes lit up for a moment and then they darkened again. In a low but hearable voice, he said, "I wonder if I could find Riku or Kairi…"

"Of course!" Donald interjected, sounding not too sure of himself. Goofy looked at him in bewilderment and bent down low to talk to him privately.

"Are you sure?" He asked softly.

"Who knows? But we need him to come with us to find King Mickey!" Goofy looked at his friend, disappointed that Donald would lie to this boy just to fulfill their goals, but he didn't say anything against it.

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but Leon cut him off. "Sora, you should go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends." Sora, biting his lip, nodded in agreement. Donald saw the look of sadness on his face and frowned.

"You can't come along looking like that! _No_ sad faces! Got it?" Goofy leaned forward smiling at Sora.

"You gotta look funny, like us!" He didn't see Leon raise a curious eyebrow from behind Sora. He was interested to see where this was going.

Donald rolled his eyes and pushed Goofy away in frustration. "_This_ boat runs on happy faces!"

"Happy…?" Sora said softly, as if contemplating what it meant. Looking down to the floor, he breathed deeply and then he grinned widely. His eyes widened to their extent and the irises rolled back. He made a strange '_Eee_' sound while doing this as well.

Donald and Goofy stared at him for a few moments and then they both burst out laughing. Donald held his gut while rolling around on the floor as he laughed. Sora was amused that these two could find his silly face so funny.

"That's one funny face!" Goofy said while slapping his knee.

"Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys!" Sora said much more happily than before. Then the two straightened themselves out and Donald held out a hand to be shaken.

"Donald." He quacked. Sora shook his hand.

"The name's Goofy!" His companion said shaking Sora's other hand vigorously.

"I'm Sora!" He replied as he politely pulled his hand free of Goofy's grasp.

Sharing a look with Goofy, Donald stuck his hand out, palm down. With a grin, Goofy slapped his hand down on it. Catching on, Sora put his own hand onto theirs, laughing slightly as he did it. "All for one and one for all!" Goofy added once it had been done.


	5. Trip to Insanity

First of all… I want to thank my awesome reviewers! Although there isn't much to comment on, I'm gonna reply to JaguarKitty2006! And to you… Yep! I've not only beaten the game, but I'm _also_ using a script to aid me. But I won't be relying completely on that script! This isn't the game. This is the novel. Not much difference in story if any, but as you go on, you'll see that many more conversations will be tweaked to fit my desires for this!

Disclaimer: I _don't_ own Kingdom Hearts! And this will be the first and _last_ time I write this stupid disclaimer! You all know I don't!

**Chapter 5: Trip to Insanity**

"That little squirt took down that Heartless! Who'd have thought it?" Six dark figures sat around a table in an equally dark room. A small, green hologram straight from the booming spaceport of Crescentia showed Sora, Donald, and Goofy all huddled together, talking excitedly. The one that had spoken was gray skinned with a hair of blue fire… literally. He was clothed in a large black robe that covered even his feet.

"Such is the power of the Keyblade. The child's strength is not his own." Another man, this one the exact opposite of the first. Tan skinned and lavishly dressed, this man looked more like a king than the King of the Underworld, Hades, did. Jafar of Agrabah twisted his long beard thoughtfully as he said this.

A large woman, one with octopus-like tentacles instead of feet, spoke next. "Why don't we turn him into a Heartless? That'll settle things quick enough!" She laughed loudly as she envisioned this. If she succeeded in that then she'd never have to worry about Atlantica being saved! Not that she had any worries anyway. Even _if_ Sora managed to get there, she'd be able to dispatch of him easily enough. She was Ursula, the Evil Witch of Atlantica.

The next man, this one having a wicked hook for a hand and a peg leg, laughed with her. "And the brat's friends are the king's lackeys!" His eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them!"

Oogie Boogie, the creature from Halloween Town who looked more like an overstuffed pillow than an actual enemy, laughed and looked at Captain Hook the pirate. "You're no prize yourself!"

Hook glared at him and as Oogie Boogie laughed again, he yelled, "Shut up!"

"_Enough_!" The sixth person, Maleficent, said sternly. "Our opinions do not matter. The Keyblade has chosen him." She locked eyes at least once with every person around the table as she spoke. "Will it be he who conquers the darkness?" She paused once more for suspenseful purposes. "Or will the darkness devour him? Only time will tell. Either way, though, he could prove quite useful…"

The others chuckled and said words of agreement, but she didn't hear any of it. Instead her eyes locked on a young silver haired boy who stood in a dark corner of the room, watching the six closely…

***

Leon was busy packing a small bag with special supplies and such as Donald, Goofy, and Sora became better acquainted with each other.

"Magic… you're telling me that you think I can use magic?" Sora asked Donald softly.

"Yes!" The duck quacked sharply, not appreciating Sora's need to repeat him. "The Keyblade _obviously_ has special powers and as a mage, I can sense magic abilities!"

"And… you're going to teach me?" Donald fell silent. "Well?" Sora pressed.

With a sigh, Donald shook his head. "No." Sora's mouth opened and he started to protest but Donald rolled his eyes. "Magic can't be _taught_. It's something that comes from inside! Once you learn to use it _then_ I can teach you to control it better, but until then…"

Sora pouted and sighed heavily. But before he could say anything, Leon cleared his throat. In his hands, he held two bottles filled with liquid. "I don't suppose you know what these are?" He asked Sora. The teenager shook his head in reply.

With a sigh, Leon continued. "This," He said, indicating one of the bottles, one with a green liquid inside, "is a _potion_. It will heal many superficial injuries and will also help speed up the healing process for the bigger ones. Most likely you'll need it in the future, so don't ever let your stock of these dwindle." He tossed it to Sora who caught it with ease.

He held up the other bottle that had a red liquid in it. "This is an ether. Fighting will wear you down and quickly. This is made to give you quick and powerful bursts of energy. Enough for a battle, but don't overuse them. It's best to build up your own endurance than rely on these.

"Make sure that you're prepared for your journey ahead. It won't be easy, I can tell you that much. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread, so there is no such thing as over-preparing, you got it?"

Sora nodded slowly, still not sure of what he was getting himself in to…

***

Sora looked at the Gummi Ship in awe. Built entirely from colorful blocks, the _Excalibur_ (when Sora had heard that name, he nearly started jumping in excitement) was a thing of beauty.

"_Wow_!" He said as he walked around the large ship. "This is amazing! We're actually going to fly in this? It'll take us to other worlds? Does it have a bathroom? How about beds? And what about—"

"Shut up!" Donald quacked loudly. Sora stopped talking immediately. With a heavy sigh, Donald walked up to the ladder leading up to the cockpit. He had the strange feeling that it was going to be a long flight.

Goofy was the next to follow, taking the rungs two at a time because of his long legs. Pluto scrambled up after him. Finally, with a sense of awe, Sora climbed up into the cockpit.

His mouth dropped immediately as he saw the inside. "Like it? King Mickey personally oversaw the construction of this one. It was his own for a while, but then he got himself a new one!"

Sora's eyes remained wide and his mouth open as he looked around some more. The cockpit itself was filled with all kinds of mechanical instruments and such. Lights, buzzers, buttons, and bells lined the consoles and Sora couldn't help but to wonder if they all even had a purpose! He walked along the floor, which he noted was plush, red carpeting. The chairs, three of them in all, were all made of the Gummi material. Sitting down in the closest, Sora noted that they were _extremely_ comfortable. Its shape seemed to change to accommodate Sora's body, which only made Sora smile even more.

"Are you finished admiring the pilot's seat?" Donald asked warily from beside Sora. With a start, Sora realized that a steering wheel was situated directly in front of him.

"Hey, can I drive later?" Sora asked as he got up from the chair, allowing Donald to sit down in his place.

"No." was Donald's only reply. Sora's face fell. With a heavy sigh, he plopped down in the co-pilot's chair and stared out at the walls of the metal hanger that they were in. Goofy sat down in the seat behind the two and buckled up.

"Hold on! It goes real fast!" Donald told Sora as e buckled into his seatbelt. "And always wear your seat—"

"Hey, what's this…?" Sora cut him off while looking at a large red button directly in front of him. Donald's eyes widened and he covered the button his feathered hands.

"Don't push that!" He quacked as he pulled away slowly. "It switches the control from the pilot to the co-pilot!" Sora raised an intrigued eyebrow. Donald saw the look on his face and frowned. "No! You _aren't_ driving!"

Sighing heavily, Sora sat back in his seat and buckled his seatbelt up. "Fine…" He said dejectedly.

"Hey!" A small-sounding voice said from somewhere in front of Sora. Looking around for the voice, Sora found Jiminy Cricket standing on the consol in front of him. "I'm Jiminy Cricket!" The small creature said when his eyes locked with Sora's.

"Um… I'm Sora!" The teenager said in reply. Soon after, he heard Donald give a loud quack of frustration and then the suck muttered something about a 'stupid bug'. He lifted his hand to shake Jiminy's but then he realized that his hand was far too large for the cricket.

"Are you the Keyblade Master?" His new friend asked in awe.

Smiling slowly, Sora replied with a quiet, "Yeah… I guess I am." And then the Enterprise gave a slight shudder and Sora watched as the doors of the Gummi Ship hanger opened and they rocketed out into Inter-space.

***

Leon watched as the Gummi Ship blasted into the night sky of Traverse Town and disappeared among the twinkling stars. "He has no idea what he's gotten himself into…"

Aerith came up from behind him and stood beside him. "No, but none of us did when the Heartless showed up. Yet, we've done pretty good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you could say that… but Hollow Bastion was different."

"Maybe… but he has the Keyblade. We didn't have that then. And I'm sure the king's people will be able to help him in _some_ way!"

"Whatever…" Leon replied. Aerith giggled some and took his hand in hers. Leon looked down at her and smiled one of his rare smiles. But soon he became serious again and looked back up to the stars where yet another star could be seen blinking out. "I just hope that he stays strong… for _all_ our sakes."

Aerith squeezed his hand tightly and drew closer to him. "He will. I guarantee it." She said out loud, but silently, she prayed that she was right…

***

As Sora's previous elation of going to another world faded, he found himself being bored. Inter-space was quite dull actually. Jiminy's ranting didn't help Sora's boredom at all either. He had run through the story of how he and some puppet named Pinocchio had been swallowed up by a whale at _least_ three times by now.

So, in the meantime, he slept. And while he slept, he dreamt. He dreamed of being back in the Destiny Islands with his friends!

In this said dream, the sun beat down on Sora with intensity unlike he had felt in years. The air seemed to shake as waves of heat rose from the perfect white sands of the beach. It was the hottest day of the year… and he loved every moment of it.

"Sora!" He heard Kairi cry from behind her and he spun around, smiling at her. His grin widened as she ran to him and hugged him tightly. Then, to his surprise, she didn't pull away after a few moments. And when Sora thought she began pulling away, he saw that she only have pulled away a small bit. Just enough to look at Sora face-to-face. The brown-haired teenager soon figured out how close their faces were. Instead of following his immediate instincts, he began moving even closer to her. It was only seconds before their lips touched. And immediately electricity shot through Sora's body.

At first, he tensed slightly, but soon he relaxed and the kiss changed from innocent to desperate. The years of longing to have a romantic relationship with Kairi all poured into this single kiss.

_"Interesting dreams you have, Sora."_ He heard Kairi's voice, and he pulled away, letting go of Kairi.

"What is it?" The dream-Kairi asked, confused why Sora pulled away.

_"I always knew that you liked me, at least a little bit, but __I never knew you dreamed about me!" Kairi's voice filled Sora's head, yet her mouth didn't move._

"A… dream?" He wondered aloud. And with those words, the beach of Destiny Islands melted away just as it had come and Sora was left in darkness.

Then, a bright light appeared, temporarily blinding Sora. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he found Kairi standing in the midst of it. "So, I guess we got our adventure, huh, Sora?" She said excitedly while walking his way, the light following her.

Sighing heavily, Sora sat down heavily on the floor that he couldn't see. "I don't know if I even want it anymore, Kairi… It's not what I had always imagined!"

"What's so different about it?" Sora looked at her and he found that she was sitting next to him, her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.

"Well… for one, I had always imagined you and Riku with me! And… I never thought it'd be so dangerous."

"Oh, give me a break, you bum! A few days ago, you would have _jumped_ for a chance such as this! Going around to other worlds, destroying monsters, and meeting new people—it's your dream, Sora!"

Sora sighed heavily and fought back the exhaustion that began to overtake his body. "Yeah… but after experiencing what little bit I've experienced, I don't want it anymore! I want to go _home, Kairi! I want to see you and Riku again! I want to eat my mom's cooking again! I want to explore the islands some more! I want…" He trailed off, now fighting tears._

"It's too late for that." She said in reply. "You have to suck it up and beat this, Sora! You _can't go home again! You're stuck and you know it! Why whine about something you can't change?"_

Sora sighed once more. He knew that she was right. But he still didn't like it. "I guess you're right… It's just—"

"We're here!" Kairi cried happily, cutting him off.

"What?" Sora asked quizzically. Kairi looked at him grinning.

"Donald! He just said that we're at a new world!"

"What? I don't—" He stopped as his eyes suddenly flew open to see Donald standing over him. Moaning, he rubbed his head as his surroundings took the shape of the interior of the Gummi Ship.

"About time! I've been trying to wake you up for five minutes!"

"Why?"

"We're at another world!" Sora's eyes widened as he remembered Kairi's words. He got out of his chair immediately, just barely missing hitting his head against Donald's duckbill.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He cried as he pulled his yellow shoes on. "Let's go!" He looked out of the cockpit and his mouth dropped at the sight before him.

The world was very colorful. Reds, greens, blues, and many other colors adorned the distant ground. A huge forest covered most of the world, but Sora could see one area not covered by the forest. From inter-space, it looked like some sort of large meadow. 

"We're settin' down right there! Try to wake up Goofy!" Donald said while piloting the craft towards the meadow.

Sora turned around and saw that Goofy was sleeping in his chair. Sora found him hilarious and ended up bursting out laughing. He couldn't even see how _anybody_ could sleep in Goofy's position! His upper body hung off of one side of the chair with his chest and arms pointing to the floor. Then his midsection was on the chair itself, and his waist and everything below were draped over the _other side of the chair._

It looked extremely uncomfortable, but Goofy seemed to be sleeping soundly. So soundly, in fact, that no matter what Sora tried, he couldn't wake him up! Pushing, pulling, shaking, yelling, and even kicking! —None of it would wake the sleeping Goof!

Sigh-quacking heavily when he saw this, Donald grabbed a small contraption from the Gummi Consol. "Don't worry about him! I'll just transport us all to the surface and we can wake him up there!"

"Why don't we just land?" Sora wondered out loud. Donald looked at him and shrugged.

"This is faster and I don't see a Gummi Port down there! Now, let's go!" He entered their coordinates into the contraption and a green light enveloped them all. When it faded, they found themselves far above a tiled floor. The walls around them were covered with twisted pictures and paintings. If they had looked up, they would have only seen blackness. But instead, Donald and Sora were _much_ more busy watching as the floor rushed up to the meet them. All the while, Goofy still slept…

At first, they fell quickly, but as they neared the growing floor their descent slowed considerably. By the time the touched down on the ground, they had slowed to the point that their legs absorbed the entire impact with no pain at all.

"Oof!" All except for Goofy, who landed right on his face, rudely waking him from his slumber. "I was having such a nice dream too…" He said with a yawn as he got up.

"Join the club…" Sora said half-heartedly. He wasn't really focused on Goofy at all. Instead he was focusing on the twisted room they had landed in. "Tell me, Donald. _Why did you set the transporter to transport us __above the ground?" He asked through clenched teeth._

"How was I supposed to know?!" Donald demanding, shaking a feathered fist at the teenager.

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly something rushed past him. "Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" The 'something' was actually a white _rabbit that bounded past them. Dressed in a small red jacket and gray pants, he was the strangest rabbit __Sora had ever seen. He held a large clock that was as large as the rabbit himself!_

"I'm here, and I should be there!" The rabbit continued while ignoring Sora and his companions completely. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He reached a door and ripped it open, revealing _another door. And he ripped that one open, revealing another! And another… and another… and __another! Each door was smaller than the last. He kept opening doors until he reached one perfectly his size and walked through it. "The queen, she'll have my head for sure!" Sora heard him say just as he left the room._

"What was _that?" Donald wondered aloud. Goofy looked at him and shrugged. Sora looked towards both of them and motioned for the doorways._

"Let's follow him!" He said, already walking toward the strange doors. Before either Donald or Goofy could reply with an agreement or disagreement, he had already gotten down on his hands and knees and crawled through the doorway.

The room was quite a strange one. Many colors adorned the walls and a large fireplace. A small table was in the middle of the room, along with two chairs. On it were two strange looking drinks, one blue and the other red.

But, by far, the strangest thing in the room was the white rabbit… who was now about the size of Sora's foot. It ran across the room and through a very small door at the far side of the room.

"How in the—" Sora was interrupted by the sound of Donald scrambling through the doorway behind him. And then there was a loud thud from the doorway and Sora whipped around just in time to see Goofy fall back on his behind, rubbing his head.

"Hey… the doorway is smaller than the door!" He said, a little disorientated from hitting his head against the doorpost.

"You stupid! How in the world could you not see that?" Donald yelled at Goofy while roughly dragging him into the room, careful not to smack his head against the door again.

Meanwhile, Sora walked towards the small door and knelt down to inspect it. Soon, he found Donald and Goofy at his sides, inspecting it as well.

A large golden doorknob took up half of the wooden door. And it was a strange doorknob at that. The way it was made, it almost looked like a face with the keyhole being a mouth, the handle being a nose, and two lumps being eyes that were closed.

"How did he get so small?" Sora wondered out loud when his mind drifted back to the rabbit.

Donald looked at him and opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by a sleepy voice. "No, you're simply too big."

For a moment, everything around the three friends froze. All of their eyes locked on the doorknob and Sora could swear that his very heart stopped beating…

…The doorknob that moment ago Sora thought looked like a face had just talked.

And then, time sped up again and in one accord, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaimed, "It talks!"

The doorknob yawned loudly. "Must you be so loud? You woke me up!"

"Good morning!" Goofy said excitedly. He was about to speak further, but the small doorknob interrupted him.

"Good _night! I need a bit more sleep." It said snobbishly. And then it closed its eyes and went back to trying to sleep._

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed, causing the doorknob to open one agitated and look at the young brunette. "How do we get small? Like the rabbit."

The doorknob moaned with annoyance. "Why don't you try the bottle on the table?" And with that, it closed its eyes and refused to open them again.

Sora walked over to the table and saw the two bottles sitting there. "Which one makes you shrink…?" He wondered aloud. Then with a smirk, he saw the labels on the bottles. '_Shrinking Drink' was written on one and '__Growing Drink' was written on the other. But even knowing that, he hesitated. He hesitated long enough to get Donald angry._

"What are you waiting for, Sora?" He inquired, his voice betraying his agitation. He bit his lip, not knowing whether it was smart to do it. Something inside of him warned him of… _something. Whatever it was, he had a very bad feeling about it._

Donald watched him with lessening patience. Finally, getting angry, he roughly pushed Sora out of the way and grabbed the glass, downing the red drink in one gulp. Wiping his bill, he felt a _lurch inside of himself. And then, without warning, the change came. He began to shrink, slowly at first, but it soon sped up to high speeds._

It felt like falling, he noted. Like jumping off a tall building (which he had done on multiple occasions thanks to his temper), he came closer and closer to the ground. Goofy, who towered over him before, now was the size of a skyscraper. Sora was the size of a house. But it didn't end there. He kept shrinking and shrinking! Soon he found that small chips in the linoleum floor were now the size of potholes. Sora's head was higher than the tallest tower of Disney Castle.

Donald Duck as small as a shoe. All it would take was a misplaced step and he would be snuffed out. Even his magic, unless it remained unchanged by the shrinking, would be useless to him at this size. Never before had he felt so helpless… Never before had he felt so _scared._

But the stubborn duck wasn't about to let Sora and Goofy know that fact. He would simply change that fear into anger, as he always did! And immediately, he began yelling and quacking for them to hurry up.

***

Sora and Goofy looked around in amazement at the world around them. The room was simply amazing at this size. It was somewhat small before. Only three or four steps could cover the distance, but it was the size of a neighborhood block!

"How do you think the shrinking potion came back like that?" Goofy asked, referring to the fact that after Donald finished off the bottle, the drink had mysteriously regenerated.

"I'm more worried about the fact that _everything shrunk! Our clothes and weapons are the same size! I don't get it…" Sora said quietly contemplating the power of the shrinking potion._

"Ahh phooey!" Donald said waving his hand in a condescending way. "Why bother thinking about it? You'll never figure it out anyway!"

"What are you saying?" Sora asked, a hint of anger in his voice. Donald simply smirked and looked around the room some more. Muttering under his breath, Sora did the same.

"Do you think King Mickey is actually around here somewhere?" Goofy asked while looking towards the strange talking door that was now their size.

"Who knows? Let's find out!" Donald said in reply.

"Where do we start?" Sora asked. Donald simply shrugged and walked over to the door.

"Hey! Open up for us now!" He yelled, banging on it. It didn't even say anything in reply. It just slept and, Sora noted, snored. "Open up!" Donald tried to pull on the doorknob, but it didn't budge. "Stupid door…" He muttered while turning back to the duo and smiling sheepishly.

"We need to find somewhere else to go." Goofy said, stating the obvious. With a nod, Sora began walking around the perimeter of the room.

"Watch out!" Donald cried from behind him and Sora turned around only to find a red ball of flame hit him directly in the chest. Crying out, Sora flew back a little bit before hitting the ground roughly. There was a neat circular burn mark in his shirt and a few tattered threads were on fire because of the fireball!

He slapped at the fire haphazardly and got up slowly, resisting the urge to groan in pain. A few feet away, quite a bit more than that with their size, Donald and Goofy were battling with a strange creature.

It flew over their heads at a high speed. It was dressed in a red robe of some sort that had the familiar crest of the Heartless on it. Thin legs that looked useless stuck out from the bottom. Each skeletal leg had three bird-like toes, each with needle-sharp talons, ready to tear away at their victims. Its face was hidden in shadows created by a tall, orange wizard's hat.

Sora charged into the battle, swinging wildly with his Keyblade, but he was surprised as the Heartless flew easily out of range. It was by far the fastest Heartless he had encountered so far. Even with his unnatural speed given to him by the Keyblade, he couldn't hope to match that speed!

Donald gritted his teeth and blasted a fire spell at the red Heartless. It didn't move or even flinch as the smoldering ball hit it. There were no scorch marks and if it was in pain, it didn't show it in the least bit. In fact, it looked… _bigger._

Sora's eyes grew as he realized what had happened. "Donald! Don't use—" But it was too late, in anger, Donald had already unleashed a barrage of fire spells, each hitting the Heartless with deadly accuracy. And not once didn't the Heartless even move from its spot above their heads.

But it grew. It grew to at least four times its original size. Sora could only speculate that its magic power had grown just as well. Thankfully, by this time, Donald had realized his folly and had stopped using Fire magic.

_FWOOSH!_ A gigantic fireball rocketed from its wizard's hat heading straight for Donald. But just before it hit, it simply fizzled out, as if it had hit an invisible barrier. From inside this strange barrier, Donald was on one knee, panting heavily.

Aero was a hard spell to use and it used up much of his energy, and after using so much fire magic, it had reduced him to a nearly useless fighter. He simply didn't even have the energy to even stand anymore! But regardless of that, he was alive. If he hadn't cast Aero in the moment that he had, he would be fried duck!

"Donald!" Sora cried as he ran over to his companion. Goofy watched the two warily, but, unlike Sora, he knew that Donald would be all right. He was just tired.

Coming in contact with the strange barrier, Sora could only stand there watching Donald as he breathed heavily. "Are you all right?" He asked while looking in wonder at the barrier, which he could now make out to be a light blue color.

Donald looked at him and nodded slowly before pulling out a red bottle, an Ether, from his supply bag that he had slung over his shoulder. He drank the bottle quickly and immediately felt its rejuvenating affects. Slowly, but strongly, he rose to his feet and cracked his knuckles.

"Show time!" He quacked loudly, causing Sora to back up some while grinning. "Get out of the way, Goofy!" Donald yelled while raising his rod to point at the Heartless. Goofy complied. Releasing the magic barrier, Donald gritted his teeth as he unleashed a powerful Blizzard attack, fueled by the Ether he had just consumed. Small to large ice particles rocketed through the air, creating a whistling sound as they cut through the stillness.  
***

"Why didn't you just use that in the first place?" Sora wondered aloud as they walked across the room, still looking for a doorway of some sort. Donald simply waved an uninterested hand his way and continued scanning the room.

"Quick thinking with Aero, Donald!" Goofy commented happily. This time Donald smirked.

"Of course it was!" He said with a prideful air about him. "Quick thinking is what I specialize in! You know—" He was cut off as he tripped over a hole in the tile flooring and fell flat on his beak.

Sora and Goofy both began chuckling at the irony of this and soon their chuckles turned to unadulterated laughter. Donald simply replied by getting up, brushing himself off, and then angrily telling them to shut up with a threat of a Fire attack as incentive.

"Hey, what's that?" Goofy suddenly asked as he recovered from his laughter. He was looking at a hole cut out of a nearby wall, partially hidden by a bed.

"I dunno… Think it leads anywhere?" Sora said in reply while inching closer to it.

"We'll never find out if we don't go! Now, let's go!" Donald suddenly broke into a run towards the hole, his webbed feet slapping loudly on the ground as he ran. Sora ran after him and Goofy followed nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so.

******************

Well, there you go. It took a week or two, but it's finished! That chapter anyway! And anyway, expect the next chapter in a week or two. I'm writing two individual stories (or two different screen names) that I'm _trying_ to devote an equal amount of time and energy to.

The other story is a Sonic the Hedgehog fiction called _Sonic the Hedgehog: Prophesy of Chaos_. I won't bore you with the details though. Do a search for either that or _Harvestboy and Harvestgirl_ (My other screen name shared with my girlfriend)!

There you go! Go read my fic if you want! If you aren't familiar to Sonic, don't worry about it! It doesn't take place in any Sonic universe. Trust me on this. You don't need _any Sonic knowledge to read this! Just read the first page; it gives all the information on the story you should need!_

_Next time on KH: The Novel_: Sora and the gang stumble upon an unfair trial and meet a few interesting people! Cards, queens, and invisible cats all make appearances in the next installment. So stay tuned and keep watch for "_Framed!"._


	6. Framed!

Well, here's the sixth chapter of the Kingdom Hearts Novel! Sorry if it seems somewhat rushed at times, I was in a big hurry. I'm going out of town and will be gone for a week, meaning no writing! Anyway, rushed or not, I like the way it turned out!  
So… read on and have fun!

**Chapter 6: Framed!**

The first sound they heard as they walked through the hole was birds chirping happily. The second sound was a loud trumpeting and then a voice, a vaguely familiar voice, saying hoarsely, "Court is now in session! Her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, residing!"

"What in the…" Donald quacked softly as he took in the sites around them. This was quite a strange world. With talking doorknobs and shrinking potions, it was bad enough! But now he was looking at a perfectly green garden of some sort... but that's not what was weird about it! There were strange… _cards_ surrounding a small podium, on which stood a cute girl with blonde hair dressed in a light blue dress that reached her calves.

The cards themselves were just that. Looking like they were taken straight out of a deck of playing cards, they each had different symbols—spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs—and numbers of those symbols. Each of them had a weapon, an ax or a lance.

In the not-too distant distance, just past the girl, was an even larger podium. A major difference with this one was the fact that it had a large throne situated on it. Behind the throne was a painting of large heart. Half of the heart was red while the other half was white. In the red section of a heart was a much smaller white heart, and in the white section there was, likewise, a red heart. Beside the podium with the throne, there was a large cage. It was covered with a red tarp of some sort and looked to be a big birdcage.

Next to the throne was a raised platform. On this platform, the rabbit from before was now holding the trumpet. He had been the one that had said something about the trial!

Surrounding the area was a large hedge maze that seemed to go on forever.

"I'm on _trial?" The blonde girl questioned, her voice rising with a bit of fear. "Bur __why?"_

"This girl is the culprit! No doubts about it! And the reason is…" Sora caught a good look at the person talking. She was a portly lady sitting in the throne. She was dressed in a lavish robe with hues of red and black forming a heart over her chest. "Because I say so!"

Sora's mouth simply dropped at that. "Because she… _says_ so…?" He whispered to himself in confusion. "What kind of court _is this anyway…?"_

The girl let out a cry of disbelief. "But that's so unfair! How can your saying so mean anything? What ever happened to _evidence? What about a chance to prove myself innocent?"_

"Do you have anything to say in your defense?" The Queen of Hearts asked, a smirk on her face.

"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" Her voice gained a slight defiant tone to it. "You may be queen, but that doesn't give you the right to be so…" She paused, searching for the answer in her young mind. "So… so mean!"

"_Silence_!" The queen boomed, standing from her throne to lean over the edge of the podium. "How _dare_ you defy me?" The girl shrunk back in slight fear of the large queen.

"This isn't a court! This is just plain _wrong! Come on, guys, we have to help her!"_

"We can't though! It'd be—" Donald said before being cut off by Goofy.

"Muddling! We'd be muddling!" Goofy finished.

"_Meddling_! Why can't you get that right? _Med-dling_!" quacked a frustrated Donald.

"Oh yeah…" Goofy said, ignoring most of Donald's comments besides the initial correction. "Meddling. Anyway, that's against the rules?" Sora scowled slightly and turned back to watch this real life court drama unfold.

"The court finds the defendant…" The Queen paused to add suspense. "guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart..."

Sora gasped and his eyes widened. At once, everything came into place. "The Heartless!" He hissed, looking at Donald and Goofy. "She _isn't_ guilty, she's—"

"Off with her head!" The Queen of Hearts finished, a smirk slowly inching its way onto her face.

At once, the card soldiers began moving closer to the girl. The closest one, a six of clubs that held a large battle-axe, raised his weapon and prepared to bring it down on her small neck.

"No, no, _please!" The girl screamed as two other cards grabbed her roughly and forced her to lean down, exposing the pale skin of her neck._

"_No_!" Sora suddenly cried out forcefully, already charging straight through the ranks of cards. "_Stop_!" The card about to behead the girl stopped in mid-swing and stared at Sora with frustration.

Noticing the angry glares originating from every card around him, Sora willed the Keyblade to appear in his hand, which it did with a bright flash. Silently commanding it to go into 'battle mode', Sora watched solemnly as the squared off ends became sharp. Seeing this, the cards willingly moved from his path, but held onto their own weapons, ready to strike at any time.

"Who _are you?" The Queen demanded, her eyes alight with fury. "How dare you interfere with my court? I could have you—"_

"_Excuse me_." Sora said, annoyance in his voice. It probably wasn't smart to talk with such disrespect to the Queen, but he no longer cared. She didn't deserve his respect in any way. "But we know who the real culprit is!"

Goofy and Donald ran up behind him, weapons also ready for battle. And Goofy decided to help Sora out in any way he could…

"Yeah, it's the Heartle—" Donald elbowed his hard in the gut and, realizing his mistake, Goofy clamped his mouth shut.

Sora looked at him in surprise and rolled his eyes. Turning back to the Queen, he calmly looked into her eyes, showing no fear. "Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for!"

The Queen looked at him furiously. It wasn't every day that someone came up and challenged _her supreme authority! Evidence or not, she'd show this snot-nosed kid what happens to those that did!_

"Impossible! Have you any proof?" She questioned, playing along with this little game.

Sora's eyes widened quite a bit and he turned to his friends. "Proof, guys? Do we have any—"

He was cut off by the Queen's obnoxious laughter. "You come here, defying _my_ authority and ruling, without anything to back up your childish beliefs!"

"They aren't childish! I'm telling you, she is _not_ the one that tried to steal your heart!"

The Queen glowered deeply. "I could have you executed just for saying that, you know. A snap of my fingers and your blood would stain my grass!"

Sora shook slightly and gripped the Keyblade tighter. "You'd have to catch me still first…"

The Queen smirked. "Very well, then. I'll let you go now. Wouldn't want to kill my lawn." Sora relaxed. "However, there's a catch…"

"A catch?!"

"Yes, you must bring me evidence of Alice's innocence! If you fail… it's off with _all your heads!" Sora's mouth dropped. "You have two hours! Starting… __now!"   
***_

"_Idiot_!" Donald quacked as the trio walked through the dark Lotus Forest. They had just come back from meeting Alice. Abruptly after proclaiming Sora, Donald, and Goofy's near-death sentences, the Queen of Hearts had thrown Alice into that birdcage.

After that, they had gone to Alice, hoping to get some kind of clue on how to gather the mysterious evidence, but then they learned that she herself was new there and she didn't have a clue!

"Well, how was _I supposed to know that the Queen had a temper worse than __you on a bad feather day?" Sora questioned. Donald only replied with a dark glare._

Someone cleared his throat to their right and the trio turned to face a large tree stump. But that was all they saw, a tree stump! "Bicker, bicker, bicker." A voice without a body said.

"What the…?" Sora wondered, looking around for the origin of the voice.

"Looking for something?" The voice questioned mischievously. Once again, it came from the stump, yet Sora couldn't see anything there!

And then a purple outline began to form. And then a smile, a gigantic, toothy smile. Deep violet stripes appeared and its body began to take form. Bright yellow eyes with black pupils appeared above its snout that encased the impossibly large smile. A large, striped tail appeared. Four legs, only two of which it actually stood on, materialized. And finally, as the final details—the nose, eyebrows, and face in general—appeared, Sora could see that it was some kind of _cat creature._

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, grip tightening on his Keyblade just in case this cat was a threat.

"Who, indeed!" The cat said, as if everything was a joke. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, but not guilty of a thing!" Even with these solemn words, he kept the grin and still made it sound like a joke.

"If you know who it is, show us! It'll get us all out of hot water!"

"The Cheshire Cat has _all the answers—" He answered, still grinning. "But he doesn't always tell! The answer, the culprit, and the cat all lie in darkness."_

Sora watched in amazement as the Cheshire Cat's tail simply faded from existence. It was followed by his lower body and then the rest of him, except for his head.

"Hey, wait!" The boy cried, still trying to get a hint from the strange cat. But by then, it was too late. The Cheshire Cat disappeared completely, his creepy smile the last to fade…

"They've already left the forest, but I won't tell which exit. There are _three_ pieces of evidence to find. Hidden throughout the forest and in other various places. In fact, there may just be one _very near! Up, down, and all around is where your next clue is. Traitors are in our midst. One of them may even hold another piece! Find them all and you should have no problem!" The Cheshire Cat spoke on, even though his body had disappeared._

Goofy and Sora bent low at Donald's insistence. That way, he could whisper and they'd hear him. "Do we trust him?" Donald questioned.

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but the Cheshire Cat interrupted him. "To trust, or not to trust. I trust you'll decide! After all…" His voice began to fade. "Your time is running low…" And then he was gone.  
***

"Well… _that was strange." Donald commented after staring at the empty log for a while._

"Yeah…" Goofy agreed.

"Let's not worry about it right now." Sora said, looking around. Something felt… _odd about this forest. It was very different than any other forest he had been in. Something in the air maybe. "We're running out of time. Let's get started."_

"Hey, didn't he say there was one near here?" Goofy wondered. Sora nodded and began looking around.

_Nothing_. There was _nothing_. No Shadows moving along, parallel to the ground. No Air Soldiers flying overhead. No Soldiers charging forward with flying kicks. No chubby Large Bodies doing poor but painful moves reminiscent to sumo wrestling.

"Okay, let's move on." Donald said while scowling deeply.

"But he said that there was one around here!" Sora exclaimed, still scouring around.

"Well, he was lying!"

"What if he wasn't?"

"He was!"

"We don't know that!"

"He _was!"_

Goofy looked at the two in confusion. Shrugging, he kept looking around until he spotted something… something very bad.

"Uh, guys?" He was ignored, like usually.

"Why can't you get it through your head? He was either _wrong_ or lying!"

"What if we just haven't looked enough?" Sora said in reply, face red with frustration.

"Guys?" Goofy interjected once more, watching in fear at the changing surroundings.

"Get over yourself! I'm not seeing any evidence! I'm moving on!"

"Well, _I'm not!"_

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"_Fine_!" Donald screamed in a huff and turned away. Sora did the same, facing the other way. It was only then that they saw the crowds of Heartless that had gathered around.

"Tried to tell you…" Goofy commented quietly while raising his shield to a defensive position.

"Next time, Goofy, just push us or something. It'd be easier." Sora said dryly.

The group of Heartless looked at them hungrily. It was a simple Shadow that first attacked, moving across the ground at a high speed, heading straight for Sora. It was destroyed when the Keyblade slammed into the ground, right where he was at for the moment.

"Get ready…" Sora said, pulling the Keyblade out of the ground and watching with satisfaction as a glowing heart rose from the ground and flew into the sky. "This could be a long fight."  
***

Yelling a war cry, Sora dove forward, pushing a Soldier back. As soon as the Soldier let his guard up, he drove his Keyblade into its chest, causing it to erupt in a flash.

And that was the last of the Heartless. They had dispatched them quickly and decisively, ending up with only a few minor cuts and bruises. Nothing a quick gulp of a potion couldn't fix!

"Come on, I guess the evidence really _isn't around here…" Sora said, slightly downcast. He walked forward, but tripped on something._

"Oof!" He cried as he hit the dirt. "I can take down a horde of Heartless, but a simple… _thing can take me down! How is that fair!" He looked to the object he had tripped over and froze._

It was a slightly dented, but still very recognizable… Air Soldier's hat. Complete with goggles laying to the side and a propeller that had nearly been broken in half, it was distinctively a _clue! _Evidence_ to Alice's innocence!_

"_Guys_!" Sora cried, scrambling to his knees and crawling to the hat. "Guys, get over here! Hurry!"

It didn't take long for Donald and Goofy to reach him, each spouting off their own opinion about the hat. Donald called it a 'piece of somewhat useful junk'. Goofy simply asked what it was. But Sora… Sora thought it was like a precious jewel—a solution to their problem and a way out of an unjust death penalty.

Standing up and grabbing the hat in his hand tightly, he looked at his companions with tears threatening to pour over. "This is it, guys." He said quietly, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "This is our evidence!"

"Sora! It's just a stinking hat! Evidence or not, why would the Queen pay attention to that?" Donald quacked, immediately ruining Sora's mood.

And ruined it was. Sora's happy mood was absolutely shattered at that thought. They had found something, yes, but, in reality, it was little more than a hat. Sighing heavily, he threw it to the ground in frustration and walked deeper into the forest, once again trying to keep himself from crying.

Goofy and Donald watched him as he walked off. "Yeesh! What's _his_ problem?" The duck asked.

"I dunno… Maybe it was because he was so sure that he had found something really special and you told him it wasn't…" Goofy replied.

Donald looked at him in slight surprise. It wasn't often that Goofy was so… well… wise! He made a mental note to double check with Sora later to see if that was the problem. But he would do that later. They had other things to worry about… like catching up to the fourteen-year-old boy that they had lost sight of!

"Grab the hat, ya big palooka!" Donald yelled back at Goofy as he ran after Sora.

Goofy nodded and bent down, grabbing the hat. He loped after the duo, not even noticing the lone card watching them from the shadows…  
***

"Don't you find it weird that we can hack through a hundred Air Soldiers but none of them _ever leave any trace behind? And now, as soon as we need it, a hat that belongs to an Air Soldier just… well… _appears_!" Sora said, holding the hat up to his eyes, inspecting it._

"Maybe someone is trying to help us?" Goofy said in reply.

"Maybe…"

"Ahh, who _cares why we have it? We _do_ have it and that's all that matters! Why bother wondering about how the Heartless work?" Donald quacked._

"Maybe…"

"Is that all you can say, Sora?!"

"Maybe…" Sora looked at him and gave a boyish grin. His earlier angst had washed away quickly and was replaced with the same optimism that he was becoming known for.

Donald quacked in frustration, but didn't say anything else.

"We have an hour and a half left…" Goofy commented, looking at a pocket watch that he had pulled out.

"Time to play detective!" Sora said, slightly less optimistic, but not by much. "Let's split up, gang!"

"_Split up_?!" Donald screamed, stomping up to Sora and looking up at him in irritation.

"Sorry, just had to say that. Scooby Doo was always my favorite cartoon."

"What's Scooby Doo? And why are you playing around? We don't have much time!" Sora simply shrugged in reply and started walking ahead, looking around at his surroundings closely.

"What do you think he meant when he said 'Up, down, and all around is where your next clue is'?" Sora wondered aloud, referring to the Cheshire Cat.

"Maybe he meant it was up in the trees?" Goofy answered.

"Maybe…"

"Don't you start that again!" Donald quacked threateningly. "Let's just decide! Should we look around more down here or—"

"Let's go to the trees. On ground or not, we'll have a better look up there." Sora cut him off.

"And how do you suppose we climb these trees?"

Sora looked back at the white duck and grinned. "Quite simply, actually. We just hop from mushroom to mushroom."

"Mushroom to…" Donald trailed off as he saw Sora quickly point to a group of giant mushroom a little ways away. They were almost like stepping stones, each one higher than the other. They kept getting taller and taller until finally, they reached the lower branches of the trees. From there, the group could walk along the extremely large branches that belonged to the even _larger_ trees.

Sora was the first to jump on one of the large mushrooms. The flimsy looking vegetables held his weight easily and he quickly climbed onto the next one. This too didn't even sway under his feet.

Donald climbed up after him, having a little bit more trouble. "Stupid mushrooms… Let's just climb these oversized umbrellas, why don't we? Stupid, stupid, stu—" _Thud, Not even looking, he slammed into Sora, nearly knocking him off._

With a scream, the teenager grappled onto Donald for dear life.

"Why'd you stop?" Donald demanded, trying to pry Sora off of him.

"I… I can't…"

"What?"

Sora looked at him, his eyes wide with fear. Then he looked straight down at the ground that got farther and farther away than them with every mushroom.

"I… It's so high…"

"What?! We're ten feet off the ground!" Sora didn't pay attention to him at all, but instead he started shaking in fear. "Are you telling me that the Keyblade Master is scared of _heights?!"_

Sora nodded weakly. "I… I've always been afraid of heights… Since I was a little kid…"

Donald quacked in anger. "I don't _care if you're scared of heights or not! If you don't start moving, I'll break out lightning!" Sora nodded and moved along the mushrooms, but he was considerably slower._

"So, Donald. I still haven't learned how to use magic yet. When do you think I will?" Sora asked, trying to get his mind off the growing heights.

"I have no idea! If it's anything like your moving up these mushrooms, you'll be dead and buried before it even _begins to manifest itself!"_

Goofy shook his head and placed a hand on Donald's shoulder. "Don't be like that, Donald. He's trying as hard as he can." He said quietly so that Sora couldn't hear him.

"He needs to try a little _harder!" Donald said equally as quiet. Goofy simply shrugged and followed Sora and Donald up the rest of the mushrooms and onto the branch.  
***_

Five stories. Sixteen and a half yards. Fifty feet. Six hundred inches. It's how high the lowest branch within sight was. And Sora was absolutely terrified. He'd never been so scared in his life.

"I can't move, guys." He said weakly.

"Come on, Sora! You can—" Goofy began saying.

"No! I can't, Goofy! I can't even take a single freaking step! Don't you get it?! _I can't move!" Sora cried, suddenly dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around the gigantic branch as best as he could._

"Sora, I'm warning you…!" Donald said, raising his rod, the end already glowing yellow. Goofy covered the rod's end with his hand and gave Donald a look that said to stop.

"Sora, think about it. Alice is _depending on us. __We are depending on _you_! If you don't move on, we'll all lose our heads! We're already down to an hour left!" Goofy said forcefully._

Sora looked back at him and into his eyes. "I… I don't think I… I can't… I… I…" His eyes grew hard and he slowly rose to his feet, making sure that he didn't fall. "C-come on, guys. Let's look around…"

Donald blinked and Goofy grinned. He began to take a large step forward, but stopped suddenly. He stared at a large tree trunk… or more importantly, the large hole cut out in the middle of it.

"Gawrsh, Sora, look! Let's check that out!" Goofy said while already taking steps toward the hole.

"But it's on another branch of _another tree! How are we supposed to get over there?" Sora asked, the pitch of his voice rising when he thought about having to climb over the gap._

"We jump!" Donald quacked, pushing Sora roughly. Sora screamed as, once again, he ended up on his knees, trying desperately not to fall, even though the branch was as wide as a boardwalk.

"Yeah, jump! It's close enough!" Goofy said, stepping up to the end of the branch.

Donald stepped up beside him and looked down. "Uh… You go first, Goofy. We're right behind you." Goofy looked at him strangely and nodded, easily leaping over the three-foot gap between branches.

Donald gritted his teeth and backed up some. Running forward, he leapt! …And landed right next to Goofy.

"Come on, Sora! Nothin' to it!" Goofy said, waving at his human friend.

Sora looked at them and slowly got to his feet. Stepping up to the end of the branch, he looked down. All of a sudden, the distance of fifty feet seemed to be a hundred feet and the gap seemed to be ten.

"Use the Keyblade's power, you moron!" Donald cried angrily.

Sora concentrated and immediately the Keyblade appeared in his palm. He stared at it for a while and closed his eyes, letting its foreign power surge through his body, making him stronger, faster, and more alert.

"This is it…" He subconsciously crossed his fingers and, in a blur, leapt…

The wind whipped past Sora as flew through the air in the direction of the branch. But he didn't care any longer. His eyes were tightly closed and he would keep it that way. If he missed, he wouldn't know until he was already dead. If he made it… well, then he'd be safe! It was the perfect solution, in his opinion.

The trip between branches seemed to take hours, even though it was only a split second. But it still seemed longer, even in normal time, than it should have. And then, suddenly, something slammed into Sora's back and grabbed his shirt.

_WHAM!_ His legs hit something hard and unmoving. Sora decided that opening his eyes just this once wouldn't hurt. He wished he didn't do so at all. Directly below him was the ground, _not_ the tree branch. No, he had _cleared_ the branch completely and would have fallen to his death if it wasn't for Goofy.

Goofy had snatched him out of midair, preventing him from falling to his untimely doom. That would explain the slam into his back. And what hit his legs was the branch when momentum carried them forward and then gravity pulled them back, hitting the branch roughly.

Screaming, Sora wiggled around in terror. "Lift me up, _lift me up_!" Goofy complied and Sora was soon on semi-solid ground.

"When I said to use the Keyblade's power, I didn't mean _that_ much, you idiot!" Donald said, hitting him upside his head.

Rubbing his head, Sora glared at him. "Let's just _go_." He got up and walked purposely to the hole in the tree trunk.

"Ground! Solid… _ground!" The three had found themselves in a strange garden of some sort. A two-story house stood to their left and tall hedges to their right. Directly in front of them was a short, but long table with wooden chairs all around it. Seven chairs in all with plates, cups, and bowls at each seating place. Overhead, strange party lights illuminated the sunless area._

"Gawrsh, nice picnic." Goofy noted as they walked forward, away from the towering trees and their branches, much to the relief of Sora.

"Who cares about the stupid table? Look, there's a house! Let's check inside there!" Donald quacked before stomping over to the house and throwing the door open. He just about took a step, but then jumped back, quacking in fear.

"What is it?" Sora asked while he walked over to Donald. He looked through the door… and more importantly, looked down at the far away ground of that strange room they had been in. There was the table and the talking doorknob _far_ below. To their right was the fireplace. The door led out onto the wall of the room!

"What kind of idiot would put a hole in the wall like that?! Are they trying to—" Sora was suddenly cut off as Goofy ran up behind them, slammed into them, and sent all three of them over the edge of the hole…  
*****************

There! Done! All right, as I said at the beginning, I'm going out of town. In other words, no Kingdom Hearts _or_ Prophesy of Chaos (my Sonic story on my other account) for at least a week! And that's not including the time it takes to _write_ a chapter!

Sorry about the long wait you all will have to endure, but when I'm given the chance to visit my old buddies in my old town and top it off with a trip to Six Flags for $12.99 on a special Homeschool Day… well, I simply can't resist!

Now, for replies to reviews… Starting with *kingdom_gurl*: Well, I'll admit to this. I _did change some scenes. I deleted others and added a plethora of others. Yes, I'm not going back and forth to see exactly how the characters react or their body movements. But don't say that I'm not putting any work in this. I beg to differ. I've already poured hours into writing this and I will be pouring countless more before I even come __close to the end. It is __far from easy to novelize a game like Kingdom Hearts, just ask those who have started a novelization, but will never finish it._

Thank you for your constructive criticism, but I believe that you were criticizing an area that did not need to be criticized. Remember, this isn't the game. This is my retelling of the game in my own words… plus many words from the game's script itself.

And on a side note, I just want to say that it's very evident that Sora loves Kairi. **SPOILERS!** You don't just sacrifice your heart and become a Heartless for anybody, you know. Maybe he didn't at the beginning, but he sure did by the end, and I very much so plan to make that obvious throughout my story.

JaguarKitty2006: Ha! You aren't the _only_ one who can't wait until Hallow Bastion! I want to write it all right now! But I can't… but that's good 'cause that'll be good incentive to continue writing this beast!

PIcaRDMPC: Thanks for sticking up for my story and for the review! And even _more thanks for not making it into a flame! I _hate_ it when people flame others for their point of views on something as meaningless as a story._

Red Sonic: Thanks again for your reviews! And I really hate how they do that too! …Although Final Fantasy X changed that all, but I won't be giving any spoilers here! Nope, no way!

Callie Gibbons: Well, congrats on beating such an amazing game! And welcome to the Kingdom Hearts section!

Sora: You have my main character's name!!! …Or maybe you just named yourself after him. Anywho, thanks for the review!

And that being said…

Tune in next time for an even more explosive chapter! Watch as Sora and the gang try desperately to find the last two pieces of evidence. And what's this? Double-crossed by a queen?! Keep watching for the next chapter: _Traitors and Tricks_

--Harvestboy2001 (Ben)


	7. Fury

Sorry about the wait, guys! Here's the next chapter! It's a little long, but that's fine! Hope you like it! If you liked the others, I'm sure you'll like this one though!

I'd reply to my reviews, but at the moment, I'm pressed for time, so I'll just say thanks all my wonderful reviewers! Keep reading and keep reviewing! Now read!

**Chapter 7: Fury**

_Thud_.

"Get offa me!"

"Gawrsh, sorry, guys."

Sora's eyes fluttered open when he realized that he wasn't falling to his doom or dead. He realized that he was on top of Donald while Goofy had landed on top of _him. The next thing he noticed was that the floor was still far below him._

"What in the…?" He quickly pushed Goofy off of him and crawled across the ground beneath him, crawling closer to the tile floor. Instead of falling to the ground, he had fallen _to the wall!_

"What is this?!" Donald quacked as he stood up. "We're on the wall!"

It didn't feel like they were on the wall though. The ground felt solid and if Sora didn't recognize the room, he would have just thought that it was built sideways.

"This is crazy… Just totally—"

"Sora, watch out!" Donald cried from behind him. On an instinct, Sora called for the Keyblade and whipped around, thrusting it in a stabbing motion. His instinct had proven correct and he had just killed a lone Shadow.

"Let's just get out of here! I don't trust this place!" Donald said while pulling out his Wizard's Rod.

Sora nodded and began walking back to the doorway, which he found was more of a hole in the floor in this bizarre room. But then he stopped, eyes widening. _Up, down, and all around… Up, down, and…_

"Up, down, and all around is where you'll find the next clue! This is where it is! The clue's somewhere in here!"

"I think you're right, Sora! Wonder where it could be…?" Goofy said while scratching his head.

"I dunno, let's look around." Sora began walking around, keeping the Keyblade ready to battle anything that dared sneak up on them.  
***

The Joker card watched the Queen warily from his hiding spot in the bushes. So fat, so ugly. She wasn't even a real card! Yet, instead of stepping down and letting the _real royalty of cards take their natural place, she had them killed! __Killed!_

She was an evil that needed to be destroyed and if everything went as planned, by the end of the day, she would be. But first he had to live up to his end up the bargain. First he had to kidnap the Princess.

But he knew that he couldn't just yet. The entire deck of cards was walking around the courtyard! Two of them guarded the Princess, who was in the birdcage. The rest of them were doing odd jobs, but he knew that at the Queen's command, every one of them would attack whomever the Queen chose.

And then an idea flashed through his mind. It would be dangerous and he could lose everything in the process, but if he knew the Queen, and he _knew_ the Queen, he would be willing to put so much on the line.

The ones trying to save Alice were on a journey of sorts to find evidence of her innocence, and, coincidentally, Joker's guilt. So he'd help them along. Plant a piece of evidence! He knew by watching them, they already had the hat belonging to the Air Soldier, an event that not even he understood how it happened, and he also knew that they were in the Bizarre Room now. There were many exits to the Bizarre Room, so he'd have to put _his_ evidence in a place where they would all find it.

Suddenly, as if by divine leading, he knew where to put it. The Heartless of this world all seemed to by drawn to the boy with the Key, and it wouldn't be hard to plant it on a Heartless! Yes, that's what he'd do!

So with conspiracy in his mind, he melted into the shadows and went searching for one of his Heartless.  
***

Downing a Potion, Sora felt revitalized and ready to fight the new enemies that had shown up. The Heartless seemed endless and he was willing to bet that they might as well have been. Sora could fight them for a long period of time, but not forever. He was only human. And even worse, they were running out of time!

With three pieces of evidence left to find, they only had roughly a half an hour before time was up! Things were looking bleak for he and his friends, but he wasn't ready to give up. Not until the fat lady sung, or in this case, commanded that their heads be cut off.

"_Thunder_!" He heard Donald cry and immediately, bolts of lightning rained down, destroying a majority of the Heartless foes. Once again, Sora was mesmerized by the power in which the small mage held and felt a twinge of pain knowing that he could do the same, yet didn't know how.

_CLANK!_ Goofy's shield, one with razor sharp edges, pounded into a Heartless, stunning it, giving Goofy a chance to follow up the attack by slicing into it. The Soldier evaporated into black smoke.

"I'm outta Ethers!" Sora heard Donald cry. Some Heartless were chasing him and it was obvious that he was worn out.

 "Donald! Catch!" Sora took out one of his own and threw in Donald's way, praying that the duck would be able to catch the vial of red liquid.

Donald just barely caught it and Sora was relieved when he drank it and spun around, sending a blast of icy wind, mingled with shards to huge boulders of ice, in the direction of the Heartless. The multiple Heartless chasing him all evaporated into nothing.

It didn't take long to finish off the remainder of the Heartless, and they ran off before any more had a chance to come along.

"Where could that evidence be…? What is it? Darn cat, he didn't give us _anything_!" Donald snarled as he silently dared the Cheshire Cat to appear in front of him.

"Well, it's somewhere in this room!" Goofy said with a goofy grin.

"Oh, well, that makes it easy… or it _would if we couldn't walk on the walls!" Donald said in retort. He hit Goofy over the head with his rod and walked up to where Sora was walking in front of them._

"Let's just get outta here, Sora! I don't think the King is on this world! Neither are your friends! Why bother?"

Sora stopped and swiveled to face Donald. "We have to save Alice, Donald! She's been framed by the Heartless! Do you just want to let her die?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Goofy cried from behind the arguing duo, cutting Donald off. "I found something!"

Sora and Donald shared a look and both ran towards the place Goofy had stopped walking. Goofy stood there, looking at a familiar crest that he had picked up from the ground.

"It's the Heartless symbol!" Sora and Donald cried at the same time. Goofy hardly had time to react before Sora leapt forward and wrenched it from his grip.

"This is evidence number two, guys! We're halfway there!"

"It's gonna have to be enough!" Donald said quietly when he reached into Goofy's pocket (Sora grimaced at this) and pulled out the pocket watch. "We only have ten minutes left! We have to _go!"_

Sora nodded and took off for the opening in the ground and stopped directly in front of it. "Here goes…" He took a slow step forward and in and soon felt the gravitational change. Soon, he was standing half in the hole and half out. "This is so weird!" He said, now grinning.

"Quit playing and hurry!" Donald cried, threatening to push Sora the rest of the way. Sora complied and walked the rest of the way in.

Seconds later, he poked his head back out the hole and looked at Donald and Goofy. "Hurry up, guys! We don't got much time!"

Donald was the next to go. He decided to try to just walk to the hole purposely and not even slow to walk over the corner, figuring that gravity would do it all for him…

…He was very wrong, and he got a sore butt to prove it. "Stupid world! GAH! I hate this place!" He yelled while getting up again, rubbing his rump.

"Watch out, Donald!" Sora cried, but by then it was too late. Goofy, mimicking Donald's entrance, fell right on the irritable duck.

"_GET OFF!_" Donald screamed, pounding the ground with his fists and unleashing what Sora was sure was a string of curses in 'duck language'.

Goofy quickly got off and stood to his feet, double checking to make sure all his equipment was still there. Donald simply got up and calmly walked past Goofy, but not before pushing him roughly, nearly causing the taller goof to fall over the edge again.

Sora gulped as he began walking across the picnic area towards the tree branches. He had enough heights for today and he didn't look forward to going out there again!

He hesitated, but another angry quack from Donald prompted him to step forward onto the branch. He began walking along the branch, albeit slowly, and outside into the forest again.

"Goofy, you go first again… You know, just in case Sora misses again!" Donald said, giving Sora a condescending smirk.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I can do it!" He gave Goofy a look that caused him to let the teen go first. Stepping up to the edge, Sora took a deep breath. "Here goes…" And then he leapt, sailing through the air, and landing easily on the other branch.

"I did it!" Sora said, grinning back at the duo. "I did it, guys!"

"Good job, Sora!" Goofy said, cupping his mouth to amplify his voice, even though he was only three or four feet away.

Sora grinned at the two and, on instinct, took a step backwards. The only problem with that was the fact that there was nothing to step on. Yelling out, Sora tumbled backward, falling off the branch.

Falling… Sora screamed loudly and tried to grasp something—_anything_—to stop himself, but he was unable to do so. He saw Goofy and Donald appear on top of the branch and Goofy tried to reach down and grab him like he had before, but it was far too late.

_I'm doing to die! This is it!_ Sora cried in his mind. The wind whipped past him and all he could hear was the whistling of the air as he broke through it and the rippling of his hair and clothes as the speed of his fall increased.

_"Don't give up, Sora! Grab onto something! Hurry!"_ He heard a voice in his head say. He knew who it was too.

_"You can't die, Sora! You have to keep going! It all depends on _you_! If we lose you…"_

_Kairi! I can't! It's too late! I'm practically dead already!_  He said in reply.

_"You can too! Trust me!"_

Sora bit his lip and tried to look around for something to grab. He was still a good ten to twenty feet off the ground and he was falling far too fast to—_there_!

The Keyblade materialized in his hands and he swung it in midair towards something it had seen. And suddenly his drop came to a screeching halt as the prongs of the Keyblade caught a small, low hanging branch. But he didn't stop moving completely. Because of the shape of the Keyblade's prongs and his speed, his drop was turned horizontal. He swung off the branch and suddenly he was flying through the air again, not having lost much speed at all.

But like all things, what goes up _must come down, and soon enough he was falling again. "No!" He tried to find something else to latch onto, but there was nothing. So, at long last, he held his breath, closed his eyes, and welcomed his fate._

If only he had opened his eyes one more time, he would not have seen the ground rushing up to meet him, but would have instead seen the wall of blue water instead…  
***

"Where am I? Am I… dead?" Sora asked himself as he got up. Wherever he was, it was completely black. His body seemed to give off its own light, but there was nothing to light up.

"Hello?" He said, cupping his mouth with his hands. "Is there anybody there?"

He frowned and pinched his arm hard, feeling the pressure and then pain of doing so. "I'm not dreaming… I don't think so anyway. But what could that mean? Am I… really dead?"

And suddenly, there was a large ball of light that just appeared in the middle of the darkness. But the light was dim, and once again, it didn't seem to pierce the great darkness all around Sora.

_THU-THUMP._

_THU-THUMP._

"What's that?" Sora wondered aloud, walking closer to the light.

_THU-THUMP_. Over and over again, it made that same noise and pulsed to the sound as well, almost like a…

"A heart!" Sora cried suddenly, stepping back once in disbelief. "It's a heart!" A though suddenly passed through his mind. "Is it… mine?"

_THU-THUMP._

_THU-THUMP._

"What is this…? What's going on?" Sora asked, barely above a whisper. "I _am_ dead, aren't I…? But I don't understand… What _is this place?"_

_THU-THU-THUMP._

Sora froze at the extra beat.

_THU-THU-THUMP._

He watched in awe as another heart appeared with a flash, it's dim light still not being able to pierce the darkness.

_THU-THU-THUMP_. The two hearts' beats had melded into that one triple beat.

"If this is _my heart, then who's is this…?" He walked over to it and slowly laid a hand on the pulsing light._

_"Sora, you lazy bum! I knew I'd find you here snoozing!" He… no _she_ said. She was standing a familiar beach, looking straight at… Sora!_

_"Snoozing…? No! This huge black… _thing_ swallowed my up! I couldn't breathe; I couldn't—"_

Sora ripped his hand back, breathing heavily. He had seen a memory. A familiar one at that! It was the one where he had woken up from his strange dream yet… it wasn't in his point of view. It was in _Kairi's_.

"This is… this must be Kairi's heart! But how…? Why…? I don't—" He stopped as he watched the scene before him unfold. The two hearts were moving closer together, coming together! When they had molded into one heart, the light grew brighter and brighter until…  
***

Goofy shook Sora roughly. He had just dragged the boy out of the small but deep pond in the forest floor, in which Sora had fallen. When he had checked his heartbeat, he noticed that it was very faint, yet it was still there. But Sora wasn't _breathing_!

"Come on, Sora! Wake up! Gawrsh, do you know CPR, Donald?"

"Do I look like a doctor?!" Donald quacked loudly, taking out his frustrations on Goofy. "Plus, he has a heartbeat, so he doesn't _need_ CPR!"

"Then what _does_ he need!"

"I need you to stop shaking me!" Goofy's eyes widened and he noticed he hadn't stopped shaking Sora in the least bit. The second thing he noticed was that Sora's eyes were open wide and the teenager was trying to get up.

"_Sora!_" Goofy and Donald cried at the same time, each hugging the boy at the same time. Sora struggled with the hug for a while, and soon they released him.

"You took quite a fall there, Sora! I don't know how you managed to swing into the pool, but—"

"Fall? What are you talking about, Goofy?" Sora interjected, scratching his head. "I don't remember falling."

"What?!" Donald screamed. "How can you not remember?! You tried to jump across that branch up there and ended up falling off the other side! It was by pure luck that you managed to grab another branch with the Keyblade and swing into the pond!" The duck made wild gestures while speaking and Sora was able to gather enough of what they thought happened.

"I don't understand… I fell?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't… remember any of it… I remember getting that piece of evidence and then I remember waking up to Goofy shaking me! Everything in between is blank…" Sora said quietly, frowning as he tried desperately to remember.

"Evidence! Oh, Sora! Look at this! A Heartless attacked us when we were coming down to save you and it dropped this!" Goofy held up a piece of paper with neat writing on it.

Sora grabbed it slowly and began reading aloud. "Whatever you do, do not let this fall into anybody else's hands. If it does, everything could be ruined.

"I don't care what personal ambitions or desires you have. You have one goal and one goal only, and that is to take care of the princess. I have given you what is necessary to complete that task. After infilling you with Darkness, you have the ability to command the Heartless." Sora's eyes widened and his breath came in short. But regardless of that, he continued.

"Use this to capture the princess with whatever methods you choose. Whatever you do, however, do NOT let the Heartless near her! After this, you may do what you wish with the Heartless. Kill the pitiful queen if you wish. However, remember to be off the world when the Heartless finally destroy it, or you will be destroyed as well.

"If all else fails, let the darkness in completely. That WILL give you any necessary power needed to finish your task. Be warned, if you fail, not only will I send someone else to complete this easy task, but that person will also ensure that you will be destroyed long before your world is."

Sora stayed silent for a long time. "There is a traitor in our midst…" He said finally, quoting the Cheshire Cat.

"We think that's plenty of evidence for the Queen!" Donald said, taking the letter from his hand and putting it in a small envelope in which Sora figured it had been in when they found it.

"I guess so…" Sora said, something nagging at the back of his mind. That letter hadn't had an addressee nor a signature at the bottom. Could it not be framed upon Alice or even them?

"Let's go! We don't have much time!" Sora shook the thoughts away, hoping that the rest of the evidence would be enough to support the letter.

The trio began walking towards the exit of the forest, but a familiar laugh, which echoed throughout the air, stopped them cold.

"Well, look what you've found!" The Cheshire Cat materialized on the tree stump once more, this time standing on one hand, with the rest of his body held up in the air, while his head twisted unnaturally to the point where it was right side up. "Nice going!"

"Now we can save Alice!" Sora said with a grin directed at the cat. Not even his mysterious demeanor could hurt Sora's attitude now.

"Don't be so sure." Scratch that; _that_ could shatter Sora's attitude in a second.

"What do you mean? We found the evidence!" The boy cried desperately.

The Cheshire Cat continued without bothering to listen to Sora. "She may be innocent, but what about you?"

Sora froze, his eyes betraying his confusion. "W-what do you mean?" But somewhere, deep in his heart, Sora knew what the cat meant. He knew that he knew; yet he could not reach it. Whatever it was that he knew was just out of Sora's reach.

"I won't tell." The Cheshire Cat said with twinkling eyes. "But I _will_ give you something."

Suddenly the cat disappeared. Sora frowned. "What in the—"

_"I know what you want…"_ A whisper was heard in Sora's ear, but when he spun to see who it was who spoke, he found no one.

_"Take the power, Keyblade Master. Use it to further your cause."_ Now it spoke in his _other_ ear,_ "Unlock your heart to it and you will become stronger than any other."_ And then the voice became silent, but Sora felt _something_ inside him become unlocked.

"What a rip-off! He said he was going to give us something and then he disappears!" Donald said angrily, shaking his fist to the place where the Cheshire Cat just was.

Sora opened his mouth to speak, but then decided against it. If the voice was who he thought it was, it meant that the Cheshire Cat had a gift for _him_ and him only. Whatever that gift was, he still had to find out.

"Come on… let's just go." Sora said before walking out of the forest.  
***

Compared to the forest, the courtyard was bright. _Very_ bright. Sora shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted. Just a little bit away was the Queen of Heart's throne. And directly in front of that was the podium that Sora had to stand on.

He walked up to it, not meeting the eyes of any of the card soldiers or even the Queen herself until he was standing on the podium.

"Have you found your _evidence_, naïve little boy?" The Queen asked with a sneer.

Sora glared back at her with equal contempt. "Yes, _Queen_, I've found three separate pieces of evidence. Each one supports each other and—"

"Why, that's quite a bit of evidence that you have, isn't it?" Sora was taken aback by her uninterested voice. "The only problem is…" She leaned forward so that there was no doubt that Sora could hear her perfectly. "I am _still_ not impressed."

Sora's mouth threatened to drop, but he tried to keep his cool. "But you haven't even looked at it!"

The Queen smirked and then sighed. "How about this…" She said as she said back in her throne. "Just to make it more interesting. You choose _one_ of those three pieces of evidence. Whichever you choose to present, I will look at. If indeed I am satisfied, Alice will be freed. However, if I feel that it is not adequate evidence, Alice will be beheaded and you will join her for the crime of…" She paused, scratching her chin, trying to think up a good crime. Her eyes lit up and she sneered at Sora once more. "Assistance of a crime!"

Sora's mouth _did_ drop this time. "What?! _One_ piece of evidence?! We just spent the last two hours finding this evidence, risking our lives a bunch of times, and you throw it all out! And then you tell us that we'll be—"

"_Silence_! Do you _dare_ disrespect the Queen of Hearts? I should have you beheaded now! Now choose your evidence and choose well!" The Queen said angrily.

Sora sighed and shook his head in disgust. Then, turning inward, the trio of friends formed a huddle of sorts. "What do we choose, guys?"

"I say we choose the letter! It's perfect!" Donald said, pulling the letter from one of his pockets.

"Yeah, that should do the trick!" Goofy said in agreement.

Sora bit his lip. He still felt that they had found the letter way too easily. They just _happened_ to find it on a Heartless? "Guys, I have a bad feeling about that letter! We just _happened_ to find it on a Heartless! What if whoever's trying to frame Alice planted it on the Heartless? It just seems to coincidental!"

"Sora! The _rest_ of our evidence just _happened_ to fall off the Heartless too! It _is_ a coincidence and a good one at that! Now, let's just present the letter to the Queen, save Alice, and get out of this world before the Queen has us all beheaded for making the her lose her temper or entice her to a game of croquet or something!" Donald said with exasperation. He was getting very tired of this world.

Sora bit his lip and sighed. "We can't take any chances…"

"Exactly! We need to go with our best! If it works, then we get out free!"

"But if it doesn't work…?"

"It _will_!" Donald said, putting his hands on his hips. Sora sighed once more and nodded, grabbing the letter.

He spun around to face the Queen. "We've chosen!" One of the card soldiers came up to him and Sora handed the letter over to him. The soldier marched the two steps over to the Queen and handed it to her with a bow.

The Queen opened the letter and began reading slowly. "Hmm…" She'd say every once in a while. Sora watched her in anticipation. His fists were clenched tight and he was ready to call upon the Keyblade at any second.

She looked up at Sora and gave him another sneer. Sora's blood ran cold and his suspicions were justified when she shredded the letter and dropped the remains on the ground.

"Guards…! Seize them! They, along with Alice, have conspired against me! They _all_ have tried to steal my heart! They will all be beheaded!" Immediately, before Sora could even react, a dozen cards ran straight for him and grabbed him, kicking his legs out from underneath him and pulling his arms back to a painful position. Goofy and Donald were being treated fairly much the same.

"No!" Sora cried, trying to wrench himself from their grasp. "Let us go, you fat—" A guard clamped a hand over his mouth, cutting him off.

The Queen looked appalled and she put a hand over her mouth. "How _dare_ you! Guards, off with his head! Right now!"

Sora clenched his eyes shut and grit his teeth. "I won't…" A bright light began shining in directly front of him. "I won't… give up…"

"Guards, what is he doing?" The Queen asked, staring at the light.

Sora felt something happening inside of him. Something rising to the top. Whatever the Cheshire Cat had unlocked was happening _now_! Something surged through his body, originating at his heart and spreading down into his arms, until it finally hit the point where the card soldiers held him.

_TZZZAAAP!_ Lightning bolts shot from his hands to the card soldiers, causing them to release him to avoid being fried. Immediately, the bright light changed into the Keyblade and Sora grabbed it, swinging it around, batting soldiers away with ease.

For a second, Sora froze, realizing that he had used the magic attack, Thunder (although it was a bit different than normal), but then he decided to worry about that later.

"Guards! Seize him now!" The Queen screamed from her throne, getting up to her feet and jumping up and down while pointing at Sora.

Sora whipped around to see the group of guards closest to him and called upon the magic again. This time, a few sizeable fireballs exploded from the tip of his Keyblade and slammed into the cards, sending them falling backward.

He broke Donald and Goofy free and they immediately went to work, helping him subdue the other cards.

Finally when that was all finished and all the cards were unconscious or had run away, Sora stepped up to the podium. "New way of doing things, _Queen_. Now you listen to me! I've had enough of your pompous, arrogant, self-centered attitude! You have _no_ right even being queen!"

Sora had to give the Queen one thing. Even though she no longer had any protection anymore and she had seen what Sora and his friends could do, she still showed no fear.

"We did _not_ conspire against you in any way! We came here looking for our friends! And neither did Alice try to steal your heart! She's just trying to get home! Someone in _your_ kingdom is the conspirator, Queen! Whoever that is controls the Heartless and _they_ tried to steal your heart! Not me and not Alice! And I'm _sick_ of your attempts to pin it on us!"

The Queen glared at him coolly. "You expect me to believe that? _You_ are the one holding the weapon." Sora sighed and the Keyblade disappeared with a flash. Donald and Goofy put away their own weapons as well.

"Alice is innocent. And _you_ are going to release her!" Sora said with a glare still in his eye.

The Queen smirked. "No. No, I don't think I will." Sora blinked in surprise. He was suddenly in a rut. The Queen had the only controls to the cage, which was raised ten feet off the ground and Sora didn't have much time! The guards could wake up at any time! He had no plan to hurt the Queen, although he wouldn't mind doing so too much. But could he get away with a bluff?

"I'm warning you! If you don't cooperate, I'll…" He hesitated and then the Queen began laughing loudly.

"You'll _what_, boy? Hit me with that _key_?" Sora's eyes widened and suddenly the Keyblade appeared in his hands, the edges already razor sharp. The Queen of Heart's eyes widened with fear and she screamed as Sora leapt straight towards her, the Keyblade in an offensive position.

Suddenly a screech from behind her caused her to whip around. There, directly in front of her, was the most _ugly_ creature that the Queen had ever seen! Entirely black, it was tiny, hardly two feet tall. Its eyes were very large, but they glowed an eerie yellow color. It's hands ended in vicious claws and it had two strange antennae sticking up from its head.

She screamed once more, but she was cut short as the Keyblade, glowing with an unknown power, slammed into the Shadow, causing it to evaporate into black smoke.

"_That_ was the culprit." Sora said, a dark tone in his voice. "That was a Heartless." He straightened up and dropped off the thick rail on which he had been standing and into the booth that held the Queen and her throne.

For once, the Queen of Hearts was at a loss for words. After everything she had put him through, the insane tasks, the mental torture, and even trying to have him killed, this boy had _still_ saved her life. She tried to reason that he was saving his _own_ hide, yet she couldn't even use that excuse for very long.

"How do I let the cage down?" There was hardly any question in that voice. Sora was _commanding_ her to show him. The Queen weakly pointed at a lever next to her throne, but she was still unable to say anything.

Sora quickly pulled the lever and immediately, the birdcage began lowering to the ground slowly. Hopping off the throne, Sora ran over to where the birdcage was, and as soon as it reached the ground, he ripped the large cover off of it, revealing what was inside.

"_What in the…?!_" He suddenly yelled, grabbing the bars to the cage and shaking them roughly. Donald and Goofy ran over to where he was and peered inside the cage. They confirmed what he had just seen… which was _nothing_. The birdcage that had housed Alice…

…was empty.

***************************************

And that's all folks! Anyway, I had a slight writer's block earlier on in the chapter, and that's why it took me so long to write it. However, hopefully that's over with now!

Can you believe that they are _still_ on Wonderland? How many chapters is it now? Two and a half? Three? Well, don't worry! Next chapter, they will be gone (FINALLY)! Then I can get to work on the next worlds! Speaking of which, give me a review and tell me which world you want to see next! Deep Jungle… Or the Coliseum?

Tell me in a review! At the end, I'll count the votes and whichever world wins will be the next destination… although I'm willing to bet I _already_ know which will win… I'll give you a hint, it involves Cloud Strife.

Anyway, until next time… go read my Sonic story on my other account, darn it! And _also_ until next time… R&R!

--Ben


	8. Tricks of the Trade

Oi… Took long enough, huh? I apologize for the really long wait for this chapter, but I was experiencing an annoying writer's block that just wouldn't leave! …Not to mention my chapter got deleted at least three times thanks to computer problems… We had to redo my computer from around the time I began writing this chapter to today… about _seven times_! That is _not_ an exaggeration! Stupid computer…

Anyway, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for…! The end of Wonderland! Yes, you've been waiting for it, and I have too! Never liked that world…

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor Disney, nor Square-Enix! If I did, I would have had an even happier ending! But then again… There's always my novelization… MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!! …Wait… You shall know nothing about my ending planned for this story! …After all, I'm _way_ too much in the beginning to even start thinking about it!

So read and review!

**Chapter 8: Tricks of the Trade**

"She's _gone_!" Sora cried in frustration. He shook the cage with as much force as he could and felt tears beginning to gather in his eyes. It wasn't fair… so much work, sweat, _blood_, for nothing! _Nothing_!

"What do you mean she's—" The Queen was cut off as Sora whirled to face her.

"_SHUT UP!_" He snarled vehemently. The Queen decided to do so, lest she aggravate the young but dangerous boy any further. Even _she_ knew her limits.

"She was probably kidnapped while we were fighting." Donald said softly, trying to diffuse Sora's anger.

Sora was silenced for a moment. And then he sighed heavily. "So, if we had never fought…?" He looked directly at the Queen as he spoke. "She would still here. _Great_."

The Queen had enough then. She was going to show the boy who was Queen of this world and show him well! "Go find her! If you hadn't fought back, she would still be here!"

"What are you—?"

"So, it's obviously _your_ fault!"

"Now see here! If you had—"

"Silence! I could have you beheaded right now for your impudence. But I am in a merciful mood! I shall give you one chance to redeem yourself! Find out who did this!"

Sora sighed and nodded slowly, much to his companions' surprise. "Fine, but don't expect us to come back." And with that, he turned around and walked away with Goofy and Donald following closely behind.

"Guards…!" The Queen cried but then sighed heavily, realizing that all of her guards were incapacitated or just gone. Shaking her head, she said quietly, "Impudent child… but a smart one at that…"  
***

_"Have you seen Alice?" Donald asked._

_"Alice, no. Shadow, yes!" The purple cat answered with a grin that said he knew more than he let on._

_"Where?" Goofy asked._

_"This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down. All mixed up, thanks to the Shadows! Step deeper into the forest, to the deserted garden. You might find some shadows in the upside-down room!"_

"Well, he was a lot more straight with us that time." Sora said as they ran back in the direction they had come from not too long ago.

Neither of his companions replied. Instead they kept running towards the mushrooms that would take them to the high branches of the forest. Sora hesitated at the first mushroom, but he climbed up the mushrooms soon after, refusing to look down.  
***

Joker shivered slightly as Maleficent stepped out of the green portal. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of her disgusting horns. Her pale skin disgusted him and her yellow, cat-like eyes chilled him to the bone.

But regardless of that, he gave her a smirk and a nod in Alice's direction to show her that his mission was a success.

"No, no, _please_!" Alice cried as Maleficent softly brushed her fingernails over Alice's cheek. Joker nearly retched.

Even though Joker had met her before, her _stench_, not one to be actually smelled, but a stench that only a truly _evil_ person could have, still disgusted him.

He couldn't meet the witch's eyes as he handed Alice to Maleficent. Her piercing gaze would have seen straight through his smug and lively attitude and would see the fact that he didn't fully want to do this.

He was doing it as payback. The Queen had wronged him. She had wronged Wonderland as a whole! She would die either way when the Heartless reached the world's heart, but he wasn't about to let her off that easy. He wanted to see her struggle. He wanted to see her _die_. He wanted to outright show her who the strongest was.

It probably meant he'd have to kill a few of his cousins in the process, but it was a worthy sacrifice. And any that did not fight back—and he was sure there would be some—he would take off the world, saving them from their doom. And then they would populate another world, taking over by force if they must, and he'd be the ruler. He was set up a new rule on what they'd call Neo Wonderland. Yes, that's what would happen.

Joker turned his attention back to Maleficent and Alice to rid himself of the thoughts. Maleficent blew a pink powder into Alice's face, which caused the girl to cough and sneeze, before bringing a deep sleep upon her. Alice's eyes drooped and her breathing grew steady. She was asleep.

"Good…" Maleficent said in her silky voice. "Very good work. Were there any problems?"

"Well… not much, except these three brats—" Maleficent's eyes opened a little wider at this. "—that showed up today. They went around ruining Alice's trial, although that bought me more time, killing a buncha Heartless, and trying to save Alice. In the end, I used that letter you gave me to them to be used against them in Alice's—"

"You _fool_!" Maleficent cried, her fist clenching tightly. "Do you realize who those _brats_ are?! They are the Keyblade Master and two of the Rat's lackeys! They are the _last_ people I want to know my plans!"

"Take it easy! They don't know who I am or you for that matter! They don't have the slightest clue of your plans! On that note, neither do—"

Maleficent hushed him and unclenched her fist. "Fine. A job well done then. However, I have one more request of you. After that, you can do whatever you want."

"What's that?"

"Kill them."

Joker gasped in slight surprise but nodded slowly. "I can do that… I still control the Heartless, so—"

"Kill them yourself." Maleficent said plainly, causing Joker's eyes to widen considerably.

"_Myself_? I can't kill anyone! Why do you think I was booted from the Queen's service? I'm too weak of a card!"

"They've gone through dozens of Heartless as it is. You know that! No, you must do it yourself.'

"How?" Joker said, but he already knew the answer.

"Use the darkness." Maleficent said forebodingly. "Let it in your heart completely and you'll have all the power you need. Let it consume you."

Joker shivered slightly at the tone in her voice. Something was different about it… Like she was hiding something.

"What will it do to me? And will I be able to go back to normal?"

"It depends on the person, my dear playing card. Sometimes it'll change you physically. Sometimes it'll change your mind. Sometimes both! However, it will _always_ do what's needed of it."

"And what about changing back to normal?" Maleficent didn't answer. "Maleficent?"

She looked straight into his eyes. "It also depends… But once you've experienced pure darkness, will you _want_ to?" Joker began shivering even more. He found that he couldn't reply. Mainly because he didn't know what to say…

And before he could think up a reply, Maleficent was stepping back into the portal. "Do it soon, Joker. They're here."  
***

Sora poured on the speed, running down the wall with speed only the Keyblade could give. He knew she was in this room. Something inside of him told him plainly that Alice was here. He didn't know what. He didn't know why. And he didn't know where. He just _knew_.

Donald and Goofy were trailing behind him, neither of them having the speed or endurance of the Keyblade.

Sora slowed and then stopped finally. He was nearing the base of the wall and he could now see three figures in the distance. One was definitely a card, while another was a very tall lady with what looked like horns. And the third…

"Alice!" Sora said quietly, motioning with a wave for Donald and Goofy to hurry up. They reached him in a few seconds and Sora pointed towards the three people.

"Hey, that's—"

"Alice!" Sora said once more and he began moving forward again, ready to charge into battle. But before he could move, Donald tackled him to the floor.

"Not again, you're not! You are _not_ charging into this _again_ without thinking it through! Remember what happened _last_ time?"

Sora struggled some against his grip, but soon calmed down. As much as he hated to admit it, Donald was right.

When Sora calmed down, Donald took his hand off his shoulder. "We'll go slowly for now." He led the way, plodding along with an extremely slow pace that Sora hated.

"No, no, _please_!" Alice cried from the distance and then Sora watched as the lady did something and Alice went limp.

"Forget this!" He cried before going into a run for the base of the wall and the adjacent floor. Donald yelled something behind him, but Sora tuned his voice out. He would _not_ let something happen to Alice. Not after losing Riku and Kairi!  
***

_"But once you've experienced pure darkness, will you _want_ to?"_ Maleficent's words passed through Joker's mind and he shivered. Something about that terrified him. She used that to justify the fact that he may never be able to turn back to normal. But did it justify it?

"Hey, you!" The child who was rapidly approaching cried. He held a large and strange Key that scared Joker slightly. After all, he had seen that very Key tear through hordes of Heartless!

_Now or never_, he told himself. _Live or die. Kill or be killed. The hunted needs to become the hunter. Survival of the—Okay, time to stop stalling_.

"Darkness, come to me…. Engulf me, surround me, consume me…" He said, barely above a whisper. He relaxed and breathed heavily, waiting for anything to happen.

…Nothing. "Come on, do something!" He said a little louder this time. The trio was getting closer every second and he was running out of time! "Come on, you stupid…" He said, but stopped mid-sentence.

_Something_ had changed. He looked around at himself, but frowned. His body hadn't changed in the least bit. Not that he cared. He didn't _need_ a new body! He would kill the brats himself and then move onto the Queen! And then he'd kill, one by one, every single one of his brothers that had achieved status in the Queen's army! They had shattered his dreams and he would shatter theirs!

And somewhere, deep inside of Joker, in a place that was quickly disappearing into the darkness of oblivion, he knew where the change had taken place—_his mind_.

But soon he realized that it wasn't ending there. He didn't notice it at first, but something told him that something was up with the trio stopped dead in their tracks, each having a look of surprise or even _terror_ in their faces.

The first change was in his legs. The short stubby things that he once called legs suddenly shot out with amazing speed, causing him to grow to the size of the big table! His legs didn't only become longer though. No, they _thickened_.

And what an amazing feeling it was! He had never felt this before! He had always been a flat card, only a few centimeters in width at his thickest! But his legs were _cylinders_! And then the most amazing thing happened. His newly made knee joint split. At a quick glance, it would have looked like two legs where there should have been one. However, a closer glance would reveal that he had four legs… and _two feet_. His two legs on each side split apart, forming an almost diamond shape hole, before coming back together to create a strange, boot-like foot in which instead of having multiple toes, his foot ended in a long cone that curled up into a spiral.

All his legs were a metallic black color, his skin felt like armor. He was sure that it _was_ some kind of armor.

His card body changed as well. While the body stayed about the same size, it changed in shape completely. Instead of the flat rectangle, it soon became almost a egg-like shape, with the sharpest side angling down, where the legs could connect to the body. It contrasted completely from the old white color by becoming the same metallic black, only interrupted by the large, red Heartless symbol where the joker face once was on his card body—right in the middle of his chest.

His two short arms changed as well. First, his right arm grew long and as wide as his old card body. In fact, it'd only be fair to compare it _to_ the body. It was the same black color, but it wasn't as shiny or metallic. It wasn't created to look good. It was a _weapon_. In fact, it was like a large _battle-axe_. The elbow joint was at the vary end, jutting up from the axe and ending in five gangly fingers. In that hand, he held a large juggling stick.

His other arm was hardly an arm at all. More like a sword. A long, zigzagged sword. Shaped like a lightning bolt, it looked solid and dangerous, but it was as flexible as a rubber sword. In fact, that's exactly what it felt like… except for the fact it was as sharp as a regular sword. It too was a deadly weapon.

His shoulders became huge red and black teardrops. Each were nearly as large as his body, and were as hard as steel armor. They would keep him protected, just as the rest of his body.

Finally, his head changed. The flat face that used to adorn his body shot skyward, becoming a tall cylinder, causing him to tower over the table at full height. He soon also realized that he could see much more than before… in _four_ different points of views! He had four heads!

Each one was stacked on top of each other, alternating red and black in colors. His faces looked like they were merely painted on, yet they functioned perfectly. And the last weird thing was the fact that each face, each _head_, could swivel, alone, three hundred and sixty degrees. Each head was separate and could spin by itself, providing him with the ability to look in _all_ directions at once!

Joker had become the ultimate weapon. The perfect killer. And as the last of his bodily changes occurred, Joker as everyone knew him disappeared from all existence. As the lust for death and blood overcame all his senses, a new name appeared in his mind and he tested it out with his mouths, which surprisingly could still speak.

One voice was high-pitched and giggly, one was deep and rumbling, another was gravely and dark, and the last was bore a big resemblance to his old voice. And each one said the same thing: "Trickmaster…"  
***

"You idiot!" Donald screamed as the trio ran away from Trickmaster.

"He was a little card! After our first battle with 'em, I thought it'd be easy!" Sora cried in retaliation. "How was I supposed to know he could turn into a big… _thing_?!"

"Well, if you'd have just listened to me and watched—"

_BOOM!_ A huge juggling stick slammed down onto the ground in front of them, causing all three of them to come to a screeching halt. Goofy tripped and fell flat on his face, and Donald helped him up.

"_Other way!_" Sora screamed before turning tail and running the other direction. His two comrades followed.

"Use your magic, Donald!" He cried as they ran. Donald quacked in agreement, but before he could turn around to blast Trickmaster, the creature leapt over their heads, using his legs as huge springs and landed back in front of them.

Before any of the three could react, Trickmaster swept his juggling stick across the floor, knocking all of them back quite a bit.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" The Trickmaster cackled in his four voices. "_Stay_!"

Sora quickly got to his feet and helped Donald, who was beside him, up. "Now!" He cried, pointing at Trickmaster. "Magic!"

Donald nodded and unleashed a powerful Thunder spell on Trickmaster. In turn, Trickmaster let loose a loud screech of pain and waved around wildly with his juggling stick.

One swing was heading right towards Sora and his feathered companion, but at the last second, Goofy tackled them to the ground from behind. Trickmaster just barely missed them.

"Again!" Sora yelled again, getting up. "Both of you distract him! I'm going to make a run for the growth potion! See how well he can fight someone his size!" Donald quacked in agreement and quickly got up, letting loose a Blizzard spell this time.

The ice encompassed his feet, freezing them to the ground. This caused him to trip and crash to the floor in a heap, giving Sora a chance to run for the potions.

"Now, Goofy! Get him!" Sora heard Donald yell as he took off, using the power of the Keyblade to give him speed. He ran past Trickmaster's prone body, marveling the entire time at how crazy the creature seemed. At how _unreal_ it was.

Trickmaster tried to swing at him with his sword-arm, but Sora leaped over it with a flip, landing gracefully on the other side, and kept running. Other than that, Goofy and his razor-edged shield were distracting Trickmaster. And Donald was freezing Trickmaster to the floor again and again to buy Sora more time…

But it wouldn't last. Every second that passed, Trickmaster broke free of more of the ice and Donald was becoming exhausted. He wouldn't last much longer.  
***

_The boy, he's making a run for it… What a coward! He can't escape the great Trickmaster!_

_HAHAHAHAHA! As soon as I break free of this stuff, I'll grab him! I'll squeeze the very life out of him and once he's dead, I'll crush him! And then I'll cut him up into little pieces!_

_But wait, he's running for that table… Something about that table… What is it?! I know this! Ahh, forget it! Whatever he's doing, I'll kill 'em! And then I'll kill these other brats! And then I'll take out the Queen and those stupid cards! And then I'll rule this world _Trickmaster's_ way! That's what I'll do!_

_And yes! I'm breaking free! That stupid duck's about to die! Right after I kill the running twerp, of course!_

_Too bad I can't split up into three parts! Then I could take them all out at once! But there's no problem! I'll kill them all anyway! Kill! Death! Maim! Mutilate! It's music to my ears!_

_But wait! He's doing something! He's jumping—how can he jump so high—up onto those chairs! The table! Now he's running across it! What are those bottles there…?_

_Wait, no! He can't be going for those! I won't let him! No way! I'll kill him now! Right now!_  
***

Sora scrambled up the bottle that had the growth potion in it and dipped his cupped hands into it. When he lifted them out, they were filled with the magical liquid.

He lifted his hands to his lips, and opened his mouth…

_CRASH!_ Suddenly, the bottle flew out from underneath him, crashing against the far wall. Sora fell to the ground with an "Oof!" and the liquid splashed everywhere.

"No!" Sora cried as he scrambled about the table, terrified when he realized that the precious liquid had been taken from him.

Trickmaster's laughed echoed throughout the room and he retracted his sword arm, bringing it back to his side. He had used that to knock away the bottle.

"It can't be…" Sora whispered as he scrambled around the table, looking for the tiniest amount of the liquid. But it had all disappeared. Even the small amount that was in his hands had seemingly evaporated into thin air. The remaining shards of the glass bottle were completely dry…

…And all hope was lost.  
***

_HAHAHAHA!!! Look at that look of hopelessness on his face! Pitiful! Too bad it won't last! I'll just have to kill him now!_

_Hey, now he looks angry! He's pointing that little sword-thing of his at me! …It's glowing red…_

_Whoa! Fire! He's shooting fire at me! Too bad I'm too fast! Dodge left… Dodge right… Whoops! Too close there! Getting closer to him now… Dodge! ACK! It hit my stick!_

_Wait… Oh… HAHA! He's _really_ dead now!_  
***

Sora blasted his last fireball off in Trickmaster's direction and fell to one knee from exhaustion. "At least…" He wheezed slightly. "At least I got his stupid stick…" A loud _FWOOSH_ interrupted his moment of slight gloating and he barely reacted in time to jump backwards.

He rolled some on the ground and ended up on his back, staring up at the large creature that was leaning over the table and him. A soft crackling sound filled Sora's ears and he stared up at the creature in terror. The juggling stick was now burning brightly, but it wasn't being destroyed. If anything, it was even worse than before.

The right sides of Trickmaster's faces glowed an eerie orange while the other sides were in darkness, making Trickmaster look even more evil than before. His multiple voices didn't help much.

"Time to die, brat!" He screamed as he raised his arms to slam the flaming stick down onto Sora. Sora brought his hands up in reaction and clenched his eyes shut. _Good-bye… Kairi…_ He thought to himself as he prepared to die.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed in his ears and he pulled his arms away, seeing and hearing the strange shield made completely out of wind that protected him.

"Donald!" He yelled, grinning. "You rock!" 

Sora shot to his feet, the Keyblade appearing once more in his hands. Part of him wondered why it always disappeared when he got in supposedly hopeless moments like that—moments in which Sora utterly gave up and accepted his fate.

The other part of him told him to fight. And as he felt the power of the Keyblade coursing through his body again, fight he did.

He ran forward and leaped through the air, for once ignoring the height of the leap, and swung his Keyblade at Trickmaster's face… at one of them, anyway. And it hit with a crackle of lightning.

Trickmaster screamed in pain and stumbled back, holding his face with his long-fingered hand. He dropped the juggling stick and Sora quickly put it out with a Blizzard spell.

Sora grinned at the newfound strength that he figured came from the Keyblade. His grin didn't last as he had to jump out of the way from Trickmaster's feet.

"Die, die, die, _die_!" Trickmaster screamed as he kept stomping, trying to crush Sora. "I'll get you good! **_Die!_**"

The teenager began running across the room, calling for Donald and Goofy. While doing so, he began developing a plan in his mind.  
***

"I need you two to distract him for me again." Sora said from inside the group's hiding place inside a large and dark fireplace. They had managed to get away from Trickmaster with the help of a few well-placed Thunder spells and had hid in the fireplace.

"Gwarsh, Sora, how ya gonna get him? I tried attacking his legs, it doesn't do anything!" Goofy said, scratching his head.

"Goofy, you moron! Don't you get it? He's going to use magic!" Donald said, poking Goofy with his staff.

"Nope. Goofy had the right idea. I'm going to attack with the Keyblade. However, I'm also going to do something else. I'm going to use magic at the same time!" And then Sora told them of how he had used the Thunder spell when he hit Trickmaster's head earlier.

"How will you get up to his head?" Goofy asked after Sora was finished.

Sora looked at them both with an evil glint in his eyes. "That's where _you_ two come in…"  
***

"I'm gonna kill Sora after this!" Donald quacked as he and Goofy exited the fireplace and slinked along the walls until they got closer to Trickmaster. "_Live bait_, he says! Well, he's going to be some dead—"

Goofy shushed him and stepped out into the open. "Yoo-hoo, Mr. Trickmaster!" One of Trickmaster's faces turned to face them. It sneered. "One… Two… Three…" Goofy counted quietly. When he reached the number 'three', both he and Donald whipped around and bent down, shoving their butts into the air and wiggling them around.

All four of Trickmaster's faces looked at them now and he began making his way over to them.

"Yeah, we're talking to you, ya big _robot_! Come and get us if you can!" Donald yelled while waving his staff around. For good measure, a lightning bolt slammed into the ground with a flash, hoping to seem even more intimidating. However, only Donald knew that the lightning bolt wasn't strong in the least bit. The battle had zapped him of his magical energy and although his magic still looked strong, it would hardly even affect the strong Trickmaster if he had to use it.

But Trickmaster fell for the ruse and even though somewhere in his twisted mind, he knew that Sora was missing, he kept walking in their direction, now swinging the recently defused juggling stick vehemently. All four faces were set in stone, staring at Donald and Goofy with hatred. Not a single one looked around to see Sora climbing onto the table until it was too late…  
***

Sora swallowed his fear and tried to let his adrenaline guide his actions.

No such luck. Before, he had been fighting with anger and passion, giving way to releasing his fears for a moment. But now, when he actually _planned_ out a battle, he was left with his fears. His _terrible_ fears. And the height of the table was the most prominent at the moment. Or maybe it was the fact that if he missed or Trickmaster dodged, he'd be a Sora pancake in mere seconds.

Yeah, it was definitely the latter.

Trying to push the fears out of his head, he gripped his Keyblade and clutched his silver crown necklace before running forward, hit shoes echoing on the table, and leaping through the air, heading straight for Trickmaster.

His footsteps caused Trickmaster to turn a head and look at Sora with surprise. "Hey!" He screamed. "No fair!" And then, sealing Sora's fate, he moved every so slightly, pulling just out of Sora's range.

"No!" Sora cried and he tried desperately to reach out to Trickmaster, but there was visibly too much distance. Sora would never make it. Even if he used to the Keyblade to extend his reach, he'd be just out of range.

"_No!_" He cried again and clenched his eyes, still straining against the ultimate foe—gravity. And then he hit something metallic. His _feet_ hit something metallic anyway. Immediately, he opened his eyes and found himself standing on one of Trickmaster's shoulders.

_He had made it_! Sora nearly leaped into the air with a shout of victory, but all four pairs of Trickmaster's beady eyes now stared at him with fury. Trickmaster's hand rose to swat Sora like a bug, but Sora leaped forward, grabbing one of Trickmaster's faces, and used it to swing around, landing on the beast's other shoulder.

Trickmaster ended up swatting himself and yelled with frustration.

Sora wasted no time in gloating. He quickly slammed his Keyblade into one of Trickmaster's faces, a bolt of lightning emitting from the Keyblade as it hit.

Trickmaster stumbled slightly, causing Sora nearly to lose his balance, but he regained it quickly and hit again. A large portion of one of Trickmaster's faces ended up frozen because of it.

Now Trickmaster was batting at Sora wildly, trying to throw the dangerous 'brat' off, but Sora was in control of the moment now. As the power of the Keyblade coursed through him, nothing could touch him. _Nothing_.

Another hit, a blast of fire. Another one with lightning and then fire. And then another with ice, which froze an entire two heads solid.

To the onlookers, Donald and Goofy, all they could see where flashes of red, blue, and yellow, but that was all they needed to see. They knew the menace of Trickmaster was defeated.

More flashes and an ear-piercing scream sounded. Trickmaster's entire body seemed to shudder and his knees buckled, causing the towering monster to crash onto the ground. Sora leaped off at the last minute, hitting the ground with a roll, and ended up near Donald and Goofy's feet.

And then, in silence, all three of them watched as Trickmaster's body twitched violently, a dark mist seeping from its body as a time went past. It didn't take long before it became apparent that the mist was what gave Trickmaster his power, for as more and more was lost to him, he changed.

His legs became short and stubby again. His body was flat. His four faces became one. Black and red turned to white. Weapon-like arms became harmless. Trickmaster had been utterly destroyed and he was replaced with Joker. The weak, harmless Joker.  
***

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood over Joker. It was obvious that although his body was back, his mind was not.

"You—you—you'll ne—never defeat the—dar…" And then his voice was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. "You—you—you'll ne—never defeat the—dar…" Another scream. It was a cycle. It kept going on and on, never stopping. He just kept talking. His eyes remained wide and unblinking. He was sitting up at the moment, but his body was constantly twitching.

Sora sighed heavily, shaking his head. This victory wasn't one to make him feel good. In fact, he felt sorrow for Joker. And hatred for that dark mist. And anger at losing Alice again. But he'd keep looking until he found her. She would still be on the world right?

And there was another thing he was worried about. He and his friends were _still_ tiny! And with the potion destroyed, they had no way to get back!

Suddenly, a loud yawn interrupted his thoughts and caused him to jump. "What a racket." He heard and walked towards the talking Doorknob that had apparently just woken up. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"

Sora was about to apologize but the Doorknob yawned again, his mouth stretching wide. At first, Sora didn't see anything special, but he _felt_ something different. A _pull_ of some sort originating from his heart. There was _something_ inside that mouth.

Suddenly there was a flash and a line of light appeared, outlining a shape in the darkness. The line of light was shaped like a keyhole.

"A key—" Suddenly Sora was cut off as the Keyblade reappeared in his hand. The pull on his heart multiplied in strength and he found himself—almost against his will—lifting the Keyblade to point at the outlined keyhole.

"Hey, what's…" Sora trailed off as the Keyblade's tip began glow bright white. A thin beam of light shot off from it and struck the dark keyhole in the center, causing another flash.

There was a loud clicking sound, one that sounded like a lock being locked, and a bright flash of light. When the light faded, the keyhole was completely gone.

"What was _that_?" Donald exclaimed from beside Sora. Sora himself couldn't help but to wonder that as well, but before he could reply, a colorful block of some sort fell from the Doorknob's mouth.

Goofy bent down to pick it up and examined it. "It's a Gummi piece, but… no, sirree, it ain't like the others!"

Donald frowned and grabbed it from Goofy's hand. "_I'll_ hold onto it. You'll lose it!" He pocketed it. Goofy stared at him blankly and then a look of surprise appeared on his face. He pointed to something behind them, and both Donald and Sora turned around.

"Oh no…" Donald said quietly, slapping his forehead.

"Splendid! You're quite the hero!" The aggravating Cheshire Cat said with the same silly grin on his face. "But if you're looking for Alice, you're too late. She's not here. She's _gone_! Off with the shadows, into darkness!"

"No…" Sora whispered, his head bowing in shame. _I failed again…_ He thought to himself.

"Maybe we should go back to the Gummi Ship. Maybe we'll find her in another world!" Donald said, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder. Sora doubted it, but nodded.

That's when terror struck him. "W-we can't! We're tiny!" He cried and Donald quacked loudly in equal terror.

"Gee, why don't we just drink that growth potion?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.

"Trickmaster destroyed it. All the potion is gone." Sora said quietly, his head bowing even farther.

"Huh? Then why are there two bottles up there?" Goofy asked, pointing at the table. Sora's head shot up and he looked up at the tall table. He could just barely make out two bottles, one blue and the other… _red_.

"_That's it_!" He yelled, grinning wildly. And immediately, he began running as fast as he could towards the table, leaving all thoughts on the mysterious keyhole, the Gummi piece, and the reappearance of the potion behind.  
*****************************************

You know the huge hiatus in this chapter? The next one hopefully won't be as long, but it may just be. I'm no longer writing two stories, but three. One of them is a Chrono Cross—Chrono Trigger crossover created by myself and about three other people. Although it doesn't take up very much time at all, leaving me plenty to spare for writing Kingdom Hearts and Prophesy of Chaos (Sonic-fic, go read it on my other Pen Name that I've said about… a lot of times!).

However, that's not the reason it'll take a long time. First of all, one reason is that Sunday (August 3rd, baby!) is my 16th birthday! WHOO! And because of this, a very close friend of mine is visiting for a week… or two. I won't get much if any writing done during that time. And then, there's a slight possibility that I'll end up going to Memphis, Tennessee for the last two weeks of August as well, which, of course, means no writing!

Now, I know you're all wondering how I'd be going so late in August when school's starting so soon! My big secret to it is… I'm _home schooled_! And I don't usually start until late August, or even early September! Quite a blessing, really. I usually finish later though… I wonder why…

Anyway, don't worry, I'm _not_ dead. I won't be dead! And unless God takes me from the life before I'm finished… I _will_ finish my stories!

And another note to address. My next world is going to be Coliseum. Sorry to all those Deep Jungle wanters (All… three or four of you…), but it's going that way.

And now I'm going to post this quite large chapter…

And on a side note, I know that I said this chapter would feature the next world, but I lied… Sorry! Next chapter will for sure! …Hopefully!

--Ben


	9. Dirt, Heat, and Phil

HB: Eh… hehe… Hi! ::Hides behind Goofy

Goofy: ::Stands there, looking blank::

Riku: ::Sneaks up behind HB and kicks him:: Explain why you made them wait a month!

HB: To put it in words… Two sets of long-distance friends visit my house for a weekend each… I had a 2 1/2 week trip… Had another story to write in my Sonic the Hedgehog story… and the spawn of Hades known as Writer S. Block!

Okay, no excuse, right? Well, it's all got… Sorry! But hey! I got the chapter finished! And, by the way, Chapter _EIGHT_ (Last chapter of Wonderland saga) was also posted quite some time ago, but I don't think many realized it. But it _was_! So for those who didn't know… you have two chapters to read!!!

And I'd reply to reviews… but I'm tired and wanna get this posted!

So thanks to all my _awesome_ reviewers… YOU GUYS (And girls!) ROCK!

HB: ::Bows out of the room and then takes off in a run, trying to escape wild 'fans' that wanna hurt him for making them wait so long!::

Riku: …Harvestboy doesn't own—

Sora: ::Pushes him out of the way:: Harvestboy doesn't own me, Kairi, Riku, Goofy, Donald, or any of the other Kingdom Hearts gang! He just owns this _really_ awesome story, with a really good-looking character… Who, of course, can't outshine the author and—

Riku: QUIT SUCKING UP TO THE AUTHOR!

Sora: Bye! ::Runs off as Riku chases him::

**Chapter 9: Dirt, Heat, and Phil**

On a world, far away and a few weeks in the past, a man with spiky, blonde hair lay facedown on the ground in a dark alley. The ground itself was covered with dirt, sand, and grime. He had long and spiky blonde hair that had been darkened by the dirt that he lay on. His eyes, which were shielded by his closed eyelids, were a deep blue, with a strange pigment in them that caused them to glow in the dark. He had light colored skin that continued on over his entire body, except on his back, where a leathery, evil-looking, black wing sprouted. His face was slightly triangular shaped, ending in a pointy, but strong chin. A gigantic black sword with a hilt covered with brown leather lied on the ground beside him, its silver-colored edge glinting brightly in the sun.

He groaned softly and tried to push himself up off the dirt, but a fiery sensation, even worse than that, it was a blinding _pain_, spread throughout his left arm as he pushed. The muscles in that arm failed him suddenly, and he collapsed on the ground once more, rolling onto his back in the process. Unconsciousness washed over him in waves and he succumbed to its pull, falling into a dreamless sleep.

***

"Hey, kid! Yo, kid, wake up!" The man opened his eyes and squinted against the light of a blue torch hovering over his face. When his eyes grew accustomed to the light, they widened a bit when he saw that the torch was actually a person. It was a strange person with blue skin and blue fire for his hair. The person was thin and bony, but he was quite tall. His face was oval shaped and he had a short but pointy nose. He had yellow eyes with black dots for pupils. He was clothed in a long black robe that extended all the way down to his feet.

"About time you woke up! I was almost getting worried! …Actually, that's a lie. If you died, it would benefit my plans for raising an army of undead and taking over Olympus. But you didn't hear that." He said, grinning to show his sharp, blackened teeth.

The formerly unconscious man frowned but decided to leave the comment alone and get right to the point. "Where am I?" His own voice surprised him. It sounded weak, barely audible.

The fire-haired man's grin never lessened. "Hell." At his look of confusion, the blue man sighed. "It was a joke. Get it?" He pointed to himself. "Hades. God of the Underworld—also commonly known as Hell." The man's confusion never left his face and Hades sighed, shaking his head.

"Stupid, unbelieving generation… Lack a lot of humor too…" He muttered. When Hades looked back up at the man, he was staring at his left hand… or where his left hand should have been.

But it had been replaced with a mechanical… _claw_ of sorts. Where his wrist should have been, there were two rings with small bolts that stuck out lining the rings' outside edges. His hand was an even bigger change though. He counted the fingers and found there was still five, yet the hand was larger than it used to have been. The fingers were gold-plated and were more like claws than actual fingers. The hand itself was covered with a thick leather glove.

"It's mechanical. I didn't think your old hand looked as cool." Hades said with an evil glimmer in his eye. The man stared at him in disbelief and horror. "It's… a joke." Hades sighed. "When I found you, your hand was a stump! I fixed it up for you!"

The man clenched and unclenched his fists, listening at the _clack_ing sound that the fingers made as they touched each other. He didn't say a word though.

"What are ya, mute? How'd you end up out there on the street like that?"

The man frowned, racking his brain for an answer. "I was looking for someone…" He said softly, but a bit stronger than before. 

"Who ya looking for?" For some reason, he couldn't remember anything _about_ that 'someone'. All he knew was that the person was…

"I'm looking for…" He looked straight at Hades, his piercing blue eyes betraying his pained emotions. "I'm looking for my Light."

Hades frowned and pondered that for a moment. His eyes rested on the man's huge sword. An evil smile formed on his face and he looked back at the man. "What's your name?"

The man looked at Hades for a long time and replied quietly. "Cloud. Cloud Strife."

"Well, Cloudy, have I got a proposition for you…"

***

"We're comin' up on Traverse Town!" Donald quacked as he buckled himself into the pilot's seat. Sora watched the oncoming _hole_ in the air with excitement and slight apprehension. Goofy was sleeping again.

He saw movement out of the corner of his right eye, but he ignored it, thinking it was just Goofy shifting in his sleep. It only took a few seconds to realize that Goofy was on his _left_ side.

Sora looked to his right, but he didn't see anything. He looked out the domed windshield, but it yielded the same results. "You're getting paranoid, Sora…" He whispered to himself.

_BLIP!_

At first, he didn't notice it.

_BLIP! BLIP!_

It was louder this time. "Hey, what's that?"

_BLIP! BLIP! BLIP! BLIP!_

"Just the radar." Donald replied, keeping the ship parallel with the entrance to Traverse Town. Then his eyes widened at his own words. The _BLIP_-ing got more and more urgent and the radar showed an unknown ship approaching from behind.

"Probably just tourists…" Donald said quietly, not fully believing himself. He piloted the Gummi Ship to the side because the unknown ship was approaching with alarming speed.

The unknown ship simply shifted its course so that it was right behind them again. "What the…?" Sora wondered. He tried to look out the domed windshield to see it, but it was to no avail. The ship was _directly_ behind and below them, just out of visual range.

"It's as if it's hiding!" Sora said to Donald. The duck merely quacked in frustration and pulled the ship in sharp climb, giving Sora a visual of the ship following them.

It was a deep blue color and its windshield was tinted black. It was very simple in its design, a thin box with triangles on the ends. From the side, it would have looked like a diamond.

But regardless of its simple design and small size, it sped up quickly, following them. As it got closer, Sora's blood froze. He saw _weapons_ mounted on it. Sure, the Enterprise had weaponry of its own, and he was sure other Gummi Ships did too, but the way it was coming at them…

"It has weapons!" Sora cried. It had guns that were like rail guns, six barrels in each, shaped like an octagon. There were two guns. And by now, Sora could make out the little details on the ship… such as the Heartless emblem painted on the windshield!

"D-Donald…!" Sora cried as he saw the guns begin spinning rapidly. He wasn't a fool; he knew exactly what that meant. "It's shooting!"

Donald quacked and looked back, just in time to see blue laser bolts splatter themselves along their domed windshield. He gave an angry quack again and threw the joystick to the ship forward, sending them in a steep dive. The Heartless ship followed.

All the while, Goofy slept.

Donald forced the stick to the left, barely avoiding another barrage of fire, and Sora watched in dismay when he noticed the portal to Traverse Town was no longer in front of them, but to their right.

"Sora! Wake up Goofy!" Donald quacked, forcing them into another steep climb, just avoiding another barrage of laser fire. Sora gave him an incredulous look and Donald glared at him. "_Find_ a way! I don't care how!"

Sora slowly climbed out of his chair once Donald leveled out and rushed to Goofy's side. He shook the Goof violently, but he kept on snoring. "C'mon, Goofy! Wake _up_!"

"Heads up!" Donald cried and then he sent the Gummi Ship into another dive. Sora stumbled back towards Donald and the pilot's seat because of it, but then Donald leveled out just long enough to pull up again. This time, Sora's little balance gave out and he tripped, flying forward, straight into Goofy and his chair.

Goofy finally woke up in a fluster and he looked down at Sora, who was currently sprawled on his lap. "Gawrsh, Sora, what'cha doin'?"

"You big oaf! Look around! We're under attack!" Donald cried from the pilot's seat, not bothering to look back at Goofy.

Now, Goofy may have been slow. Maybe dumb. Some would even call him stupid. Whether that was true or not depended on the situation. But, regardless of all that, the pacifistic Knight Captain knew one thing for sure. And that was what _attack_ meant.

He got up quickly, dropping Sora to the floor in the process. He grinned and helped the teenager up, saying a soft, "Sorry." while doing so and then scrambled into the co-pilot's chair.

Sora sat into the chair that Goofy had just been in and put on his lap belt. "Hit that switch!" He heard Donald yell from the pilot's chair. Goofy did so and Sora felt the Gummi Ship shudder slightly.

"What was _that_!?" Sora wondered aloud.

"That was our cargo being dropped! It gives us better speed!" Donald muttered from ahead of Sora.

"…_Cargo_!? Like our supplies and everything!?"

"Just the nonessential stuff." Donald replied, before pulling the Gummi Ship in another maneuver, avoiding another barrage of laser fire.

"What's nonessential?"

"Clothes, food, water… tooth brushes, tooth paste… clean underwear—but that's okay! We'll go to Traverse Town and stock up!"

Sora sat back in his chair and grumbled slightly. He had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that no matter how close to Traverse Town they were, they were _farther_ than ever from it.

"Okay! Let's take this guy out!" Donald quacked. "Goofy, hit the _blue_ button!" Goofy reached forward and pressed a button. The ship launched forward with a large burst of speed. Sora was pressed into the back of his seat, his lips forming an _O_.

"_No!_ Not the _purple_ button!" Donald quacked, punching Goofy in the arm. The taller one rubbed his arm, saying an apology while doing so.

"What does the purple button do?" But Sora had already gotten a good idea of it. The stars of Interspace became lines in the window. And the ship was going many, _many_ times faster.

The Heartless Ship disappeared amongst the stars and Sora sighed in relief. "It sends us into warp speed." Donald said, quacking loudly. He started flipping some switches and pressing buttons.

Sora was about to ask why it was so bad, but Donald answered his question before he could even ask. "The problem is, we don't have a good Navigation Gummi, or Navi-G. Without one, we won't know _where_ we'll turn up!" He quacked loudly. "Why did the King put a Warp-G on this stupid ship without a Navi-G!? And why can't I stop this!?" Donald slammed his fists to the control panel in front of him and, suddenly, the ship shuddered.

It slowed, the stars becoming bright dots again. "Gawrsh, Donald! Ya did it!" Goofy said, patting his friend on the back, probably a little too roughly.

"Hey! Look at that!" Sora exclaimed, pointing out his window. Directly in front of them, not even a minute away, was a familiar _hole_ in Interspace.

"It's a world!" Goofy gave a whoop and he pumped his arm into the air.

"Thank you, Mister Obvious…" Donald muttered and then piloted the ship towards the world's entrance.

***

It was a small world, Sora noticed. It had many different climates. Huge lakes were around some areas. Spots of lush grass and wildlife in others. And in others, there were large areas of dirt and sand.

Cities, most of which looked to be small villages and communities, dotted the world. But there was a larger one too. It was between a forested area and a large body of water. The city itself was situated on a flat plain. Around it were small farms and such, using the surroundings to the fullest.

And in the center of the huge city was a gigantic, round coliseum . As they got closer, Sora realized that the coliseum, itself, was made up of two rings, one inside the other. The inner ring was like a huge stadium, with places for viewers and guests to sit lining the walls. It looked to house thousands. And the outer ring wasn't really a ring at all. It was more like a semi-circle. But before Sora could examine it any further, Donald announced that they should get ready to teleport to the ground.

Before, however, Sora looked to the ground still far below them. He could just barely make out the forms of hundreds, if not thousands of people milling around. "Here we go…" He whispered and then started getting his equipment ready.

***

The world was dirty. It was filled with the sounds of poor people too. Beggars were at every corner. And the heat—and there was plenty of it—was terrible! It was hotter then than it ever had been in Destiny Islands! Even the hottest day on the Island couldn't match this, and it was nearing dusk in this world!

But the city wasn't all bad. All kinds of shops and carts lined the roads, each having a funny merchant naming off his items for sale. Sora saw everything from actions figures to roast ducks (Sora and Goofy had to restrain Donald when they walked past _that_ cart). And their art was amazing! Large pots in all colors were everywhere, each having an inscription in it. Some even had certain events painted on it! Beautiful paintings were displayed in windows and the smell of freshly baked bread filled the air, making Sora's stomach growl loudly.

And with a sigh, Sora couldn't help thinking of how much Kairi would _love_ to see all of this.

"I _am_ seeing it, dummy!" Sora froze at the voice. He looked around quickly.

"Kairi…?" He whispered. But Kairi wasn't there. All that was there was a large crowd, looking at the various items and crazed venders nearly begging people to buy from them.

"Equipment! Armor for the tournament! Impossibly low prices! Come get it now or you may lose the chance to! Supplies are going fast!" A vender yelled.

"Sora!" Donald said, tapping his foot on the ground. "Aren't you paying attention!?" He demanded. Sora smiled sheepishly. Donald quacked loudly and showed Sora his magician's rod, which now had a large crack in it. "It broke during that fight with Trickmaster." The duck said. "And I need a new one!" And in the next few seconds of shopping, Sora shrugged the voice off as just his imagination…

***

Sora, Goofy, and Donald all walked into the coliseum's outer semi-circle. It was even larger than Sora had thought, the wall to the inner circle _towering_ over him.

The entrance to the inner ring was on a raised platform. A series of steps led up to the large double doors. On either side of the stairs was a huge, golden statue of an armored man. Each statue had a shield in their arm that faced outward while the arm inward was outstretched at an angle, holding a golden sword. The swords just barely crossed the each high in the air.

At the bottom of the stairs was another statue, this one life-sized and made of marble. It was of a handsome man, fairly strong looking, with his hands, which were balled into fists, on his waist. His legs were spread, shoulder length, apart. He was dressed in similar armor to the large statues, the shield strapped to his left arm. The sword was kept in its scabbard.

There was an inscription on the statue and Sora got a little closer to read it. "Hercules. The son of the supreme god, Zeus. Half-god, half-mortal. Hero of Olympus. Destroyer of Hydra, the Four Titans…" Sora stopped reading there and shook his head in amazement.

"This guy's popular around here." With that, he started walking around some more. His attention was drawn to four large torches lining the edges of the semi-circle.

On the curved wall was an assortment of chalkboards. Sora got closer to them and studied them. They seemed to be for some kind of upcoming tournament. Each board had a different tournament bracket on it, each were filled with the names of various contenders.

He noticed that as the brackets got higher in the ranks, new contenders joined from a bracket of their own. He saw that these ones were actual teams. He figured it was made that way so teams wouldn't overwhelm the others from the beginning, but they'd be pitted against the hardest fighters near the end instead of easy opponents that had no real reason to be fighting in the tournament.

"Lots of people…" Sora said quietly. He looked around some and found that there was _no one_ around. "Strange…" His voice was a whisper as confusion racked his mind. "I suppose they're all staying in the town then."

After debating it some with his teammates, Sora, Goofy, and Donald walked through the double doors into the 'inner ring'. Or, at least, somewhere in between.

They found themselves in a dimly lit room, the sources of light being a few candles strategically placed to allow the most light in the room. It was a square room with solid stonewalls. Large tapestries covered the said walls; each depicted a battle or an event of sorts. Sora noticed with a shake of his head that each of them had the character Hercules in it. Directly across from the trio, on the back wall, was an opening to a dark tunnel. But at the end of the tunnel, Sora could see a small slit of light. Sora realized that it led to a door that led outside. 

A large stone block sat on the ground to the right. On it was painted another scene with Hercules. This one showed the god's son fighting off a large lion with a scar across his face. And then at the bottom of the scene, it showed the man wearing the lion's skin like a headdress.

He noticed a banner hanging over the tunnel entrance. In bold, black letters, it said _Participants for the Phil Cup welcome!_ And then in smaller letters underneath the bold ones, it said _Signup for the Cup ends soon. Sign up now or you'll have to wait until later Cups!_

One of the banner's sides fell suddenly and then there was a clatter. A bulge appeared in one of the tapestries. The bulge moved to the floor, where a small creature rolled out from under it.

The creature grumbled something about a broken footstool and moved the tapestry aside to show a footstool that had fallen to the ground. He climbed back onto it and grabbed the banner, hammering it into the wall again.

He was a strange creature. His bottom half was covered with thick, brown wool of sorts. He even had a stubby tail. His legs were like a goat's (or some animal similar) legs, the knees reversed and they even ended in small and sharp hooves. 

His upper half was more human like. He had a large potbelly that had straggly hair on it. He was a very round creature, except for his pear-shaped face. He had a large, red beard that extended out from under his chin. The portion of his beard directly under his chin (although it was hard to say where that was because it was nearly covered up with fat) extended much longer and curled inward. He had a bulbous red nose. He was bald on the top of his head—which was very ironic to Sora—but he had two brown horns that extended up and then back. And the last notable parts of his face were his pointed ears and his beady black eyes.

Sora looked at his companions in a little bit of confusion. Donald pushed him forward towards the creature. The boy turned back to the creature and cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahh!" The creature suddenly said, making Sora jump slightly. "Great timing! Move that block over there to the left, would ya? It's in the wrong place." The creature merely motioned for the block with a casual wave of his hand, but he never even turned to acknowledge the trio.

Sora looked back at his companions and scratched his head. Donald's face was contorted in anger at the rude greeting, but Goofy had clamped a hand over his beak. The boy stifled a laugh at Donald's angry glares and walked over to the block.

He placed a hand on the cool stone and pushed… and pushed some more… and some more…! The trio took turns pushing the block, but it didn't budge. Sora gave one more time, letting out a loud grunt. "It's _way_ too heavy!" He hissed through clenched teeth as he pushed as hard as he could.

The creature's pointed ears twitched. "What? Too heavy?" His voice betrayed a tinge of worry and he turned to face them. "Since when have you been a little—?" He suddenly blushed when he saw Sora and his group. "Oh. Wrong guy."

Sora stared at the creature. The creature stared at him. Sora opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the creature cut him off. "What are you three doing here?" He hopped off the stool. With an air of pride, he said, "This here's the world-famous coliseum! _Heroes only_!" He waved his hands wildly, trying to shoo them out of the room.

The trio didn't move. Donald crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his webbed foot on the ground. The creature moved closer to him. "Listen, I've got my hands full preparing for the games! I don't have time to baby-sit!" Donald simply snorted. "So you pipsqueaks run along!" At the word 'pipsqueaks' Sora chuckled slightly. The creature was, at most, as tall as Donald. Goofy and Sora towered over him!

"You've got heroes standing right in front of you!" Donald said as-a-matter-of-a-factly. He turned his beak up in pride.

Goofy grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him towards the creature. "Yeah!" He blurted. "And Sora here's the Keyblade Master! He's the hero that was chosen by the Keyblade!" Sora blushed slightly.

The creature looked Sora up and down and raised an eyebrow… and then he burst out laughing. "This _runt_…? A _hero_?"

Sora's eyes narrowed and his hands clenched. "I _am_ a hero! I've fought tons of monsters and—"

The creature waved his hand dismissively and walked to the block. He placed his back to the block and pushed… to no avail. "Hey, if you can't even move this…" He dug his hooves into the ground and pushed with all his might, grunting loudly. The block didn't move. "You can't… call yourself a…" He turned around and pushed on it, still trying to dig his hooves into the ground. "Hero!" He finished. And, as if on cue, he lost his footing and fell flat on his face, not before hitting his head on the block though.

Sora snickered, Goofy covered his snout and chuckled, and Donald let loose a flurry of quack-laughs.

The creature got back up and brushed himself off. He gave the block a swift kick. His eyes widen and he cried out in pain. Jumping up and down, holding his hoof, he glared at the trio.

***

"Okay, it takes a little more than sheer _brawn_ to be a hero." The creature known as Philoctetes, or just plain Phil, said. Sora smirked in his direction. The half-goat, half-man creature glared. His foot was now wrapped tightly in gauze and he was leaning on a walking stick.

"So, you'll let us fight in the games?" Sora asked.

Phil rubbed his furry chin. "The trial's tough. I don't know if you shrimps could handle it." The Keyblade materialized in Sora's hand. Donald and Goofy brought out their own equipment. "Well… I guess I could let you try…"

But it was too late. Sora and his group and already left the room in the direction of the inner ring…

***

"Okay, here's how it'll work. You see that obstacle course? Well, you gotta navigate through it!" Phil pointed to a large obstacle course off to the side of the inner ring.

Sora's eyes widened. The obstacles were impossible! He saw everything from huge pendulum-swinging blades, crocodile pits, spikes, and, strangely enough, _monkey bars_ on it!

"Are you trying to kill me!?" Sora cried, his face white as a sheet.

"What?" Phil asked. Then he laughed. "You're looking at the wrong obstacle course! That one belongs to Hercules, the greatest he—"

"We know all about Hercules." Sora half-lied. "Where's the other course?" Phil smirked and started walking towards Hercules' obstacle course, motioning with his for Sora to follow.

***

"This is going to be easy, guys." Sora said, giving his friends a big grin. Phil had refused to let the other two go on the course, saying that it couldn't handle three people on it at one time. And the teenage boy couldn't disagree. It looked like it couldn't even handle _his_ weight! "Just like back at Destiny Islands! Nothing to it!"

"Okay, the goal to this is to be quick, nimble, enduring, and strong. You get more point for doing it gracefully too!" Phil said. He went over the course's rules, which there were few of, and ended with saying, "Make up some stuff on the way. You don't _have_ to do everything just the way everybody else does!"

Sora nodded and readied himself. He took off any equipment, such as his pouch full of supplies, and any other things that could weight him down. He reached up to his neck and found his silver crown-shaped necklace. It was a fairly heavy piece of jewelry, considering it was made of pure silver, but he stopped. _No… that stays_. He told himself.

"Ready…" Phil said, holding up his stopwatch.

The teenager bent down low, touching the dirt with the fingertips of his right hand. He dug the ball of his right foot, which was extended out, into the sand, and positioned him in such a way that his center of gravity was centered on his left foot.

"Set…"

Sora stared at the course in front of him, running through his mind all of what he could do on this course. He, however, didn't notice the black Shadow, sliding across the ground, moving towards him quickly.

"_Go!_" And Sora was off. Running across the sand with speed and nimbleness that years of racing Riku had perfected.

"_Go, Sora, go!_" Kairi's voice. But, this time, Sora _embraced_ it. He knew Kairi wasn't there in person, but maybe, just _maybe_, wherever she was, she could see him and was cheering for him just as that voice had.

He reached the first part of the course, a simple rope that he had to climb up and ring a bell at the top. It was maybe twenty feet tall—a piece of cake for the island boy.

Soon enough, he was racing across the ground again. A rope ladder was directly in front of him. He launched himself onto it, scrambling up it as fast as his legs would take him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something black moving across the sands, but he passed it off as the shadow of a passing bird.

The ladder led to a small bridge. The bridge led to a thin and long board that connected to _another_ bridge. Sora began edging across the board, moving quickly but cautiously, making sure not to lose his balance.

"Sora!" One of his friends called from behind him. By now, she had seen the Heartless moving swiftly across the ground towards him. But Sora ignored them, pouring his concentration into his stepping. One false step and… he made it!

He bolted across the bridge and found himself at a fairly long set of monkey bars. He grabbed the first one and began crossing them. But what he _didn't_ expect was spinning monkey bars! His eyes widened as the bar under his right hand began to twist. He reached out and grabbed the next, and it too spun as he left go with his right and reached out for the next bar.

_Two yellow eyes_… "A Heartless!" He yelled when he spotted the black spot that was directly underneath him now. The black spot changed forms and began a Shadow Heartless. It leapt into the air, clawing at Sora's feet, prompting the boy to keep moving.

The next bar he grabbed with both his hands and tucked his legs to his chest. He used the momentum of his speed and twisting bars to his advantage and swung up. There was just enough room between the bars for him to slip through. He swung up… and _around_, stretching his legs out just in time so he crashed onto the bars body first, now on top of them.

He cried out in surprise and pain when his shins hit the bars first, shooting pain up his legs, but he grit his teeth and pushed himself up, standing on the bars, trying not to move lest they twist again.

Now Goofy and Donald were racing towards him as fast as they could.

The Keyblade appeared in his hand with a flash and he tore off, across the spinning bars, not slowing long enough for them to cause him to lose his balance. When he reached the last bar, he leapt off with a flip, landing gracefully on his feet on the ground below, making sure to bend his knees slightly to absorb the shock of the fall.

He spun around immediately, just in time to see the Shadow leap at him, claws reaching wildly for his heart.

_SHING…_ The Heartless exploded in a puff of black smoke right after Sora swung the Keyblade into it. Goofy and Donald arrived seconds later, weapons ready, looking around for any other threats. Phil followed as quickly as he could, grumbling about someone named Hades. But Sora ignored them all, and just stared at where the Heartless just was… and the _lack_ of what wasn't there…

All the other Heartless he had destroyed in the past died, releasing the heart in them. But this Heartless… _didn't_.


	10. Preliminaries

Here's my next installment! I know it took a long time and blame that on a huge writer's block! But I'm back! But I have news. December 26th-January 3rd, I'm leaving town. Not much if _any_ writing during that time. Before then, I'm going to try to get the next chapter of my Sonic story out and I'll try for this too, but I make no promises! I'll try though. And if I fail, I'll see you after Christmas!

Read on! It's a good one! And I don't own KH or any of the characters in it! Or anything Disney or Square-Enix either!

**Chapter 10: Preliminaries**

"Reckless… stupid… I have half a nerve to take that Hades out of the games! If that Heartless had attacked someone…" Phil said, now pacing back and forth from within the confines of the room they had previously been in. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had moved to the opposite corner of the room and were discussing the encounter quietly.

"Enough with the game stuff! We don't need to be in this competition! Not after that Heartless!" Donald said forcefully. Sora sighed in disappointment but agreed. He nodded.

Goofy, however, wasn't paying any attention to their conversation. He was eyeing Phil with curiosity. Somewhere within his small but wise at times mind, he got an _idea_.

Turning to his friends, he provided the other side of the argument…kind of. "I wonder who Hades is."

"Who cares?" Donald exclaimed, resisting the urge to forcefully shut Goofy up.

But Sora did. "Donald, quiet." He whispered thinking hard about the matter. "Goofy's right! All Phil's been talking about is 'Hades' Heartless'! I think this guy Hades somehow created that Heartless! If we can find him…"

"We can find out more about the Heartless!" Donald said, snapping his fingers—or _trying_ to. After a few minutes, he gave up and stamped his foot instead. Sora grinned at the duck's willingness. "Sora, don't be stupid. We aren't here to beat the Heartless! We're trying to find the King!" And as an afterthought, he added, "And your friends."

Sora's grin faded into a frown. "Come on, Donald! Darn it, I know what the Heartless can do! They'll probably rip this world apart! Just like… they did with mine…" He grew unnaturally quiet. His lip quivered and his eyes were wider than usual. He didn't _need_ to be thinking about his home. Not now. But… he _was_.

Donald watched Sora's face contort in pain and sighed, knowing he couldn't say no. "I guess… we haven't checked out this world enough anyway. Maybe the King _is_ on this world and…"

He trailed off when Sora turned around and ran straight to Phil. "Can you tell us where Hades is?"

Phil stopped pacing and looked at Sora. "Huh? Why are you wanting to—"

"Just trust me! Where's Hades?"

Phil frowned and scratched his furry chin. "Well… Hades lives in the Underworld—the deepest, darkest pit deep under the ground of Olympia."

Sora fell silent, frowning. His journey was getting more and more weird with every passing moment. "The _Underworld_… Any way to get him to come up here?"

"He comes up every once in a while. Weird guy. Anyway, he'll be coming up most to fight in the games." Sora's lips curved upwards in a mischievous grin. Donald quacked a groan.

"So… did I do well enough in that obstacle course to gain entrance to the games?" Sora asked; his sly was smile still plastered on his face.

"Pretty good for a kid. Even better when that Heartless attacked." Phil said. And then his face hardened. "But you aren't playing in these games!"

"But why!?" Sora demanded angrily.

"Two words: You guys ain't heroes."

"Hey, wait, that's—" Goofy started but Donald stomped on his foot, causing him to yelp and fall silent.

"Come on!" Sora said desperately.

"Want to be a real hero?" Phil asked, suddenly serious and even compassionate sounding. "Start by observing some real heroes. Learn from them and maybe you could make it. You got the makings of a hero in ya, kid, you just gotta learn how to use them."

Sora stood there for a long time in silence. He was still silent after Phil had ushered the three out into the courtyard. He was confused now. What _made_ a hero? Was it not about self-sacrifice? Wasn't it about helping others even when it was outright dangerous to one's self? That's how he had always heard a hero defined as. That's what he _thought_ a hero was. So why was he not one?

He sat down on one of the steps that led up to the inner ring and thought about it. Donald himself was pacing back and forth, muttering quietly. Goofy was polishing his shield. For some reason, he felt the calling of the Keyblade on his heart. It wanted to come out. It sensed… _something_. He held out his arm, palm open, and the Keyblade appeared in his hand. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt that seemed to be made specifically for his hand and looked around warily.

Heavy footfalls from behind Sora filled his ears. Donald stopped pacing. Goofy stopped polishing. They _both_ looked at something behind Sora. Spinning around, Keyblade held out protectively, Sora was greeted with the sight of one of the tallest men he had ever seen in his life.

He was mostly covered with a huge, black cloak that reached the bottom of his legs—it was amazing he didn't trip himself up with it! His skin was an eerie blue color and his eyes yellow. His face was huge, extremely long, ending with a chin as long as the upper half of his face. He had no hair, leaving only his blue, cue-ball head.

Sora took a step back, his eyes sharp, looking for danger. The man however smiled, revealing ugly teeth. "Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" His voice was friendly, but there was something in it…

"Who are you!?" Donald demanded. The man, ignoring Donald, took another step forward and Sora, in turn, took another step back. The Keyblade was glowing dully.

"Yeah, stubborn." Sora said coolly, hoping to scare the man off. He turned to walk off.

"Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy." Sora froze. "Let me guess…" The man said while seemingly gliding over to Sora. The teenager didn't turn to face him. "You wanna enter the games, right?" He put a hand on Sora's shoulder and Sora gasped slightly. His hand was both cold and hot at the same time. He couldn't explain it. It was a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before. A sweat appeared on his forehead; cold chills ran down his back.

"Well, then, hey," Sora gasped quietly once more. His voice seemed to come from everywhere at one time. It was… mesmerizing. Any of his reservations about the man disappeared at that one moment and he felt he could trust him. "Get a load of this!" And suddenly, out of thin air it seemed, a slip of paper appeared in the man's other blue hand.

Sora knew what it was before the man even pressed it into Sora's palm. That same something that told him what it was warned him not to accept the man's façade. But Sora only listened to part of it.

He snatched it hungrily, staring at the wording on it. "A pass…" He whispered quietly. And, more than that, it was _three_. He looked back up to the man with a questioning look in his eyes and then gasped loudly. A flame had erupted on his baldhead. The man didn't look alarmed though.

Instead, he smiled again. "I'm pulling for you, little shorty." And then he was gone. As were any memories of the occurrence.

***

Sora rose from the step quickly when he felt the _something_ in his hand. Opening his palm, he found three tickets crumpled up, but still in tact. "Where did these—"

"Sora! What are you staring at? Life lines!?" Donald quacked at him angrily. Sora looked up at him. Donald was standing in the sand, wings on hips, glaring at him with his eternal scowl. "We can't keep hanging around here all day long!"

"What _do_ you have there, Sora?" Goofy asked. Sora showed them the tickets, still not understanding how he got them. "Gawrsh, does this mean we can play the games?"

"I—" Sora began, but Donald cut him off.

"What'd you do? Steal them?"

"What!? No, I—"

"Hey, little guy! What are you doing hanging around here?" Sora jumped and nearly fell down the stairs when the female voice interrupted him again. Whipping around, he was greeted with the image of a beautiful woman. She was thin and had all the curves of an adult woman. Her hair was a light brown color, pulled into a very long ponytail. Some was left out of the ponytail but styled so it wouldn't fall over her eyes. She was wearing a long, shimmering purple dress that reached all the way down to her ankles that was held up by two straps at her shoulders.

Sora blushed slightly and scratched the back of her head. "Well, I—"

"We were trying to get in the games!" Goofy said, cutting Sora off. "But Phil wouldn't let us in. But now we have three tickets!"

"Let me see those." The woman said, snatching the tickets before Sora could reply. She studied them closely and then shrugged. "I don't know what a little tyke like you could do in the games—probably knocked out of the first round—but these are genuine tickets. Phil has no choice but to let you in…" She smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. "But you'd better be careful! All contestants of the games are required to allow their opponents to live… but accidents happen. And I don't trust those Heartless creatures."

"So we can get in?" Donald asked. "Phil would let us in?"

"He has no choice. Rules say anyone with a ticket can play in the games." The woman stated with a smirk. "He always hated that rule." She frowned slightly. "He may try to weasel out of it though…" She paused for a moment. "Are you absolutely sure you want to fight?"

"Yeah! We want to and we're ready!" Sora exclaimed, hope revealed in his voice.

Meg nodded and smiled. "Okay then! Follow me and I'll convince Phil just fine for you!"

***

"No! I told you—"

"The rules say they can, Phil!" Meg said strongly. Sora, Goofy, and Donald stood back and watched.

"I _know_ what the rules say, but—"

"There's nothing that keeps them from playing but you!"

"And I'm in charge of this year's games! That means—"

"They have tickets!"

"I don't even know how they got those tickets! For all I know, they—"

"The rules say I can play!" Sora finished, jumping into the argument. Phil stepped back and held his chest, panting. Sora stood still for a while as did Meg, but her lips twitched.

Phil looked up at him and shook his head. "You got some nerve, kid. And you do too, Meg! But… You don't give up. I respect that." Sora's eyes began to shine and his lips curled upwards. "I'll let you… I'll let you enter the preliminary rounds. If you do well, I'll let you _keep_ that ticket. If not, you're out. Got it?"

Sora was about to protest, but Meg put a hand on his shoulder. She answered for him. "Agreed. That goes for all of them, right?"

Phil nodded and looked at Sora. "You'll fight the preliminaries as a team. If you earn yourself entry to the games, you'll be fighting mostly other fighters who've excelled in their categories as well as some more powerful Heartless just to fill in for fighters who cannot fight because of injuries."

"Do you actually trust the Heartless?" Sora asked, the question gnawing away at his mind.

Phil scratched his chin. "Not at all. But Hades has been warned. If his Heartless severely hurt anyone, he'll have a hefty price to pay."

"And you trust Hades?"

Phil smiled sadly. "I trust him less than I trust his Heartless. But I really can't do anything about it. I'm just in charge of this year's games—not the games as a whole. The higher ups of Olympia have decided to allow him to fight in the games and I can't do nothing to stop it."

Sora's team looked at each other with slight suspicion. They all came to the same conclusion. Sora looked back to Phil. "Think he's bribing them or anything?"

"Wouldn't put it past him. But stop worrying about that! You'll be getting enough of him if you hold your own in the preliminaries. Now, get ready. I want to get this over with."

Sora looked to his team and they both nodded. He looked back to Phil. "We're ready." Phil looked at them with smirk and then he walked out into the inner ring, the four others following him.

***

Three blue versions of the Red Nocturne called Blue Rhapsodies floated above four Soldier Heartless. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood back, weapons out and ready. The Keyblade held out to the side, ready to strike without mercy. The Magic Staff pointed forward, already the end was glowing red with the Fire magic, ready to blast away the Blue Rhapsodies quickly. Goofy seemed to just hide behind his shield, but Sora knew better than to underestimate the power of Goofy and his shield.

"Go! Fight! Have at it!" Phil cried from behind them and, like robots, the Heartless charged at the trio in fury.

They never stood a chance. Fire exploded from both the Keyblade and Staff, taking down two of the blue Heartless. The last retaliated with the frigid Blizzard magic. It aimed at Goofy, however, and his shield protected him from the magic. And the Blizzard had an adverse effect of Goofy's shield as well. Ice formed on it, making it denser, as well as its already sharp edges were sharpened. Goofy dove into the fray. Attacking the Soldiers, he knocked them down with his shield and then finished them off with its sharp edges.

The last Rhapsody disappeared in black smoke.

Sora became a blur, slashing at the remaining Soldiers with deadly accuracy.

The battle was over merely a few minutes after it started; yet the group felt the exhaustion of it. Sora sat down on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Not bad, kid!" Phil said, walking up to Sora. "You ain't a hero yet, but not bad at all. Good thing you came to me for coaching!"

Sora stared at him incredulously. He opened his mouth to speak, but found that no words came out. No, instead, he watched as a dark figure walked out of the room and into the ring.

He had blonde spiky hair. His eyes were a piercing blue color. _He reminds me a lot of Riku… he has that same air around him. Even the eyes are the same._ Sora thought to himself while inspecting the newcomer. He wore black or dark blue clothing. His pants were loose fitting but his shirt tight and sleeveless. He wore at least five visible belts. Two were wrapped around his waist, one was high up on his left leg, and the last two were wrapped around his pants right above his ankles—probably to keep his pants from billowing too much in a fight, Sora thought. A utility pack was also wrapped around his waist the strap to it reaching across his chest to his left shoulder. A protective plate protected his right hip as well as one for his left shoulder. His left hand seemed to be artificial, more like a robotic hand ending in golden claws instead of real fingers. He wore a long, red cape that covered most of his mouth. The cape ended frayed and tattered. But this man had two very startling aspects on him. One was the black, leathery wing that jutted from behind his left shoulder blade. It was almost like a bat wing, only it looked much more dangerous. The other aspect was the sword the man carried. Huge would be a major understatement. The fact was, the sword was bigger than _any_ sword Sora had ever seen before! It looked to be at least as long as Sora was tall. The blade itself was very wide, at least a foot wide and a few inches thick. It was covered in some sort of tape or threads that wrapped around it from the base to the tip. The blade was _deadly_. And so was the man. Sora didn't need to even see him fight to see that.

The man passed, his eyes locking on Sora's for just a second. And then he walked on until he reached the shadows. He disappeared from sight and Phil finally spoke.

"Something tells me he'll be a hard one to beat." Sora tore his eyes from where the man had been standing seconds before and looked at Phil.

"We're going to have to fight… _him_? When?"

Phil smirked. "He's your final match in the preliminaries." Sora nearly swallowed a lung. "Don't worry. He's not gonna go all out and you don't actually have to _beat_ him. Just give it your all!"

Sora sighed heavily. "Right. Let's start the next round."

***

The next few rounds got harder progressively, each taking a bit more energy out of the trio. But regardless, they destroyed the opposition quickly and suffered little injury.

Meanwhile, two dark figures watched them closely…

"That little punk is your next opponent." Hades told Cloud with an evil glint in his eye. "Now, don't blow it. Just take him out!"

Cloud chuckled softly. "The great god of the underworld afraid of a kid. Will the wonders never cease? Sorry, but my contract says—"

"I know!" Hades said sharply. "Think I don't know? I _wrote_ the contract! I _know_ it only says you have to kill Hercules, but you gotta fight this kid to get to him!" Cloud's eyes narrowed and his arms crossed his chest. "Come on! It's like that old goat says: Rule Eleven: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Cloud's icy eyes seemed to turn even colder. "Whatever." And with that he walked off before Hades could even try some more.

"Geez…" Hades said. "Stiffer than the stiffs at home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…" He shook his head. "Too bad for him. If he fails his mission…" Hades cracked his knuckles. "He'll pay for it."

***

The next battle for Sora was a much harder one, considering the number of Heartless and their difficulty. Four Red Nocturnes. Four Blue Rhapsodies. One Large Body.

"Goofy! Watch out!" Sora cried as the Large Body charged at Goofy, using its huge belly to throw him backwards. The Goof hit the ground hard, but got up quickly enough. Goofy downed a healing Potion and jumped back into the fray.

A fireball flew directly to Sora's right and he whipped around, shooting off a Blizzard at the red Heartless before it could get a better aim. He then switched it around and shot off fire magic at a Blue Rhapsody.

Suddenly a sharp and hot pain flew up his left leg and he wasn't able to hold in the scream that erupted from his lips. "Sora!" Both Donald and Goofy cried at the same time. Sora stumbled forward and fell to the ground, reaching down and desperately slapping his pant leg, trying to put out the fire on it. The attack had come from a lone Red Nocturne that had managed to zip around behind Sora. A Blizzard attack slammed into the Heartless moments later, freezing it and then causing it to disappear before Donald reached him.

Donald quickly put his staff on the fairly bad burn on Sora's leg caused a very weak Blizzard spell to form on its tip. The burn was quickly cooled and then he used Cure magic to make it disappear almost completely, only leaving a faint red mark on Sora leg.

But Sora had no chance to thank Donald. The ground beneath him began shaking with a rhythm of _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_ Sora quickly got to his feet, ignoring the soreness in his leg and faced the Large Body.

He thanked Donald by pushing him out of the way of the Large Body and then himself jumped, using the power of the Keyblade to further his ascent, landed on the shoulder of the Large Body and then nimbly leapt off again, landing on his feet easily.

There's one thing about Large Bodies that makes them easy to defeat. That's their stupidity. Simple moves such as the one Sora pulled throws them off completely, making them disorientated and completely open to attack. And as the Large Body scratched its meaty head with an equally meaty hand, attack is just what Sora did.

Lightning crackled on the tip of the Keyblade and Sora leapt forward, burying the blade in the Heartless' back. And with a explosion of black smoke, the Large Body disappeared.

Sora straightened himself and looked to his comrades. They were busy tending their own wounds with curative magic and Potions. Sora himself drank another Potion for added measure as well as an Ether to regain some spent energy. But he was afraid nothing could prepare him for his next match—the _final_ match.

Phil ran out into the inner ring. "All right, this is it, kid! Final match! Finish this one and you're done!"

_No duh, you stubborn old goat._ Sora thought with a smirk and then shook his head. _Stubborn old goat? Where have I heard that before…?_

"Hey! Kid! Dozing off or something? Well, wake up! Here he comes!" Sora watched as Phil ran off the field and the blonde man step onto it.

"Here we go, guys." Sora said as Goofy and Donald gathered at his sides. "Get ready, this will be tough."

The trio stepped forward to meet the man in the center. Sora and the man stopped when they were a few feet away from each other. Goofy stuck out a hand to be shaken, but the man merely looked at it, to Goofy, and then to Sora, not bothering to shake the Goof's hand at all.

"I'm Sora." Sora said, forcing himself to look the man in the eyes. Those _Riku_ eyes. He didn't bother shaking his hand though, not after what the man did to Goofy. "This is Goofy and Donald."

"Cloud Strife." The man—Cloud—said quietly in reply. "Are you sure you're up to this? I can't go that easy on you." _Not according to my contract…_ He finished in his mind.

Sora's eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth. Was he sure? Not really. But…

"You can do it, Sora! I believe in you!" Sora found comfort in Kairi's voice. Somewhere deep inside him, he knew he was probably going insane for some reason, but he didn't pay that any attention. Instead he trusted Kairi's word and the Keyblade appeared in his hand with a flash.

"Up to it or not, I'm not backing down." Sora said strongly. The man's face betrayed no emotion, but his eyes seemed to soften just a bit. And, without another word, he walked back to the other side of the arena.

Sora watched him as he walked and looked to Donald and Goofy. "No matter what, don't give up, guys. We can beat him if we keep fighting!" Donald looked a little unsure of that, but Goofy gave them both a thumb's up.

Sora's eyes locked with the man's once more and the acknowledged each other with a nod. And that was all they needed to begin this fight. Before Phil was even able to command the start, both Cloud and Sora threw their arms holding their respective weapons out to the side and charged forward.

The two met with a clash, weapons creating sparks as the owners pushed themselves, trying to overcome the other. The Keyblade was sharp and in 'battle mode' and Cloud's Buster Sword was the same as always—deadly. And, at that moment, both of them realized how hard this battle would actually be.

Sora was the first to blink, leaping back, barely avoiding the Buster Sword as it crashed to the concrete ground of the coliseum.

Sora looked back to Goofy and Donald and, at that moment, realized they weren't going to be much help during this battle—this would be one fought between him and Cloud. It was going to be a blade-to-blade match. Goofy would not be able to join because of the sheer speed of the fighters. And Donald wouldn't be able to use his magic lest he risk hitting Sora.

"YAAAAAH!" Sora pulled himself from his thoughts just in time to see Cloud charging at him with nearly inhuman speed, Buster Sword low to the ground. The sword was barely above ground level and at times Sora saw sparks erupts from its tip when it would scrape the ground.

He back flipped out of the way. The blade was so close that he could feel the breeze from it as it sliced through the air as fast as the eye could see. Sora had no time to relax though because Cloud seemingly effortlessly changed the direction of the heavy Buster Sword so it was flying down to Sora just as fast. Sora brought the Keyblade up to meet it and when they met, there was a bright flash as both weapons seemingly repelled each other, causing both owners to stumble backwards. And Sora could see that's just what they did. Bright light covered the Keyblade and it hurt his eyes to merely look at it. However, covering Cloud's weapon was a purple energy. A purple energy that somewhere inside Sora, he knew was dangerous. It was almost like… physical _darkness_.

The Keyblade pulsed with energy as if that darkness caused hidden power within it to flare up. And it gave Sora energy. It gave him power. He was more ready for this battle than he thought. He _wouldn't_ lose.

His eyes locked onto Cloud's once more. "Let's take it up a notch." He said courageously. Cloud's face, once more, betrayed no emotion whatsoever. However, he nodded in agreement and tightened his grip on the Buster Sword.

The two charged forward once more, weapons a blur in the daylight. _CRASH!_ The slammed together once… twice… three times before the two leapt back again. But they didn't pause for formalities.

Sora ran forward again, jumping high over Cloud's head, landing behind him. He somehow _sensed_ Cloud's movement behind him and spun around, Keyblade out. The two weapons clashed once more. Cloud and Sora both pulled their weapons away. Sora leapt into the air once more, bringing the Keyblade down in an arc. It met the metal of the Buster Sword. Cloud's arms didn't even quiver.

Cloud's feet got into the fight, doing a sweeping kick that landed Sora on his rear. The younger teen rolled to the side. The Buster Sword slammed into the concrete where he just was seconds before. It left an actual indentation in the ground.

In a darker area of the arena, Hades watched with a scowl on his face. Either Cloud was still holding back or Sora was a much better fighter than expected… Or, what Hades figured most—a mixture of both.

And in a lighter area of the arena, quite a few people watched. Phil, Meg, Donald, and Goofy all watched, not paying much attention to anything else. Someone came up behind them, but they didn't turn to look at him. "Hey, who's fighting?"

Meg's attention was finally ripped from the battle and she grinned. "Hercules!"

Sparks flew when the swords crashed into each other once more. This time, however, the weapons stayed connected, each fighter trying to overcome the other. The light that had been seen before was now shining brightly as ever. It was so bright and powerful that they couldn't even see each other, and if they could, they'd see that sweat poured from their pores. But neither gave up. Even as the force that caused the weapons to mystically repel each other tried to force them apart, they kept pressing on.

But Sora's arms gave out first. He stumbled back, hitting the ground hard, and the Keyblade flew from his hand, clattering to the ground ten feet away. Cloud was thrown off balance slightly, nearly falling forward onto Sora, but he regained it in time. But this delay was enough for Sora to begin scrambling backwards.

Cloud didn't chase him this time though. Instead, he closed his eyes and the dark energy covered his entire body. The Keyblade appeared back in Sora's hand with a flash of light, and Sora slowly rose to his feet. What was Cloud doing?

The teen got ready to attack again, but froze. Cloud's eyes opened suddenly and he could see that the darkness had even extended to his eyes, changing them from aqua to completely violet.

"Sorry, kid." Sora heard the man say. And then suddenly, he flew forward, feet not even _touching the ground_. His sword was not pointing directly at Sora, but, instead, the side of the blade was. But that was all Sora could see before Cloud collided with him in a speed not even the Keyblade could accomplish. Sora flew backwards at least twenty feet, crashing into the ground roughly. And before darkness overtook him, he could have almost sworn he heard a sonic boom…

Suddenly, a green light washed over him. All at once, the soreness in his muscles disappeared and consciousness came back to him. His eyes fluttered open and he saw Cloud with his own eyes tightly closed. His right hand no longer held his sword, but was clenched over something so tightly his hand was shaking. And then Cloud relaxed, exhaling deeply. He opened his palm and Sora saw a small green spherical object the size of a large marble in his hand.

His eyes locked on Cloud's. "You healed me?" Cloud pocketed the marble object and looked at Sora, nodding his head. Sora smiled slightly and got up. He stuck out his hand to be shaken and Cloud looked at it warily. Finally, Cloud took Sora's hand in his own and shook it.

Sora's heart fell when it finally dawned on him that the match had been lost. "I guess I'm not good enough to beat you." He let go of Cloud's hand. "You fight really well." Cloud didn't answer though and Sora looked up at him. He was looking towards the shadows. In the shadows, Sora could see a dim blue light. And then a large gate on the other side of the ring lifted loudly. From somewhere in the darkness behind the lifted gate, a monstrous roar was emitted.

Cloud's eyes widened quite a bit. "No! Run, kid! Move!" He charged forward and Sora found himself just barely running ahead of him. He heard heavy footfalls, causing the very ground to shake. Ahead of them, Goofy, Donald, and Phil were all waving their hands frantically, beckoning them to move faster. Meg looked terrified and furious at the same time. And there was another man—a familiar man that Sora was sure he had seen before—running straight towards them.

The footfalls continued, even worse now. Sora spared a look and nearly fell over in surprise and fear. _Three heads_…_ it's a stinking three-headed dog! I'm going to die!_ Sora kept running. The Keyblade appeared in his hand and he used its power to speed himself up quite a bit. And then he froze when he heard a cry from behind him. It was a cry of surprise and pain. Sora whipped around and was horrified by what he saw. Cloud was in the three-headed dog's middle head. The head thrashed back and forth. Cloud looked like he was in obvious pain and Sora could have sworn he heard bones crunch. And then the head let go. Cloud flew through the air and crashed into the stone ground, bouncing once… twice… and finally rolling to a stop well away from the dog-beast.

And now the dog's attention was on Sora. The Keyblade shone brightly, but Sora had no reservations of defeating this beast. And, all of a sudden, a hand was placed on his chest and, like he was weightless, it pushed him back so roughly that his feet left the ground and he was midair for a split second before he hit the ground and tumbled to a stop. The man that had been running towards them now stood in Sora's place. One of the dog's heads snapped down onto him, completely enclosing the man in its mouth. "No!" Sora cried in desperation. Suddenly the dog yelped loudly and spit back out the man—saliva and all—who landed with a roll and sprung back to his feet, facing the beast.

"Phil! Get them _out of here_!" Sora heard the man yell. And all of a sudden, Goofy's hands grabbed Sora's arm and forcefully pulled him back towards the safety of the lobby.


	11. Three Heads Are Better Than One

This chapter's shorter than my others, honestly, but it's been so long since posting, I wanted to post this. It ends at a good cliffhanger, so that'll tide you over, I hope!

Hey, I'm really sorry this took so long. Life's been pretty crazy during the last couple of months and I'm positively horrible at time management. It's true. I admit it! Anyway, I've been in a good writing mood lately, so be happy. I'm gonna try to spit out the chapters again. However, it may take a while. School's a serious hindrance to my writing… as are video games, namely Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. However, I'm going to try. Of course, I still have my Sonic the Hedgehog story to write too. That has the next chapter written, so it may take a couple of weeks—or longer—for the next chapter of Kingdom Hearts comes. But don't worry—it's _going_ to come! I'm not giving up on either story!

I definitely don't own Kingdom Hearts! Don't ask! Don't sue! Don't pay attention to this disclaimer! …However, pay attention to the next thing I'm about to say, please.

My girlfriend is currently writing a Monster Rancher story in the MR section (duh!). Anyway, she's really not getting many reviewers, unfortunately. People don't seem to appreciate how awesome a writer she truly is (and she _is_). Her story is an amazing story with an amazing plan ahead of it. So, if anyone reading this is in any way a fan of Monster Rancher, whether the game or TV show (it combines the two realms in a way), please go read it and review too! She would greatly appreciate that kind of encouragement and trust me when I say **_I_** would love for her to get the reviews as well. She deserves them. So, please, if you like Monster Rancher, please go read her story, okay? Here's the URL: 

It's a really good read. Even if you don't even like Monster Rancher that much, I bet you'll find quite a bit of enjoyment in this. And to those Genki-haters out there reading this… no, he is not in this story. To those Genki-lovers… it's worth it. Trust me. He doesn't need to be in this story. Thanks a bunch for reading this. Now… read the chapter!

**Chapter 11: Three Heads Are Better Than One**

Squall Leonhart paced back and force in Cid's shop in the First District of Traverse Town. His boots tapped the wooden floor, then turned into soft thuds as he reached carpet, and then went back to taps as he turned around and paced back onto the uncarpeted floor. His gunblade was strapped securely to its place on his back, but his twitched in desire just to hold the weapon. However, he restrained himself and ended up reaching up and brushing his hair back in habit.

"Quit pacing, would you?" Cid demanded from behind the shop's counter. Leon stopped, looked at him with his icy blue eyes, and then went back to his pacing. This time he cupped his chin in his hand and let out a soft grunt.

Yuffie sighed from her spot on the plush green couch and looked at the man known to most as Leon. "We can't just sit around! The Heartless have taken over the Second and Third District again! Their numbers are growing by the second! Squall, if we don't hurry—" Leon gave her a sharp glare for using his real name, but Yuffie ignored him. "—the Heartless will overrun the First District! The only thing holding them back is Aerith's shield spell and you know that's weakening! And what about the—"

"_Quiet!_" Leon vehemently said. Yuffie quieted immediately. Cid gave him a smirk and a slight headshake. "I _know_ our situation, Yuffie." He said, a little bit of the venom leaving his voice.

"I'm just trying to help…"

Leon sighed deeply and brushed his hand through his long, brown locks. "I know. Sorry," was all he could manage. Yuffie seemed to accept that though and smiled slightly.

"Maybe…" Aerith said slowly, moving forward from the wall she had been leaning against. Leon stopped pacing and looked at her. Her eyes met Leon's and he saw a terrible fear within them. "Maybe it's time we evacuate Traverse To—"

Leon's reaction was immediate. "_No!_ We are _not_ giving this world to the Heartless too!" His pale blue eyes burned with a rage and his gloved hand was balled into a fist so tightly that his entire arm shook. "I won't lose _this_ home like I lost Hollow Bastion!"

There was utter silence in the room. Cid pretended to clean up behind the counter and refused to meet Leon's eyes. Yuffie suddenly found something interesting to stare at on the floor. However, Leon and Aerith's eyes never left each others'. There was no mistaking it—Leon's outburst had hurt Aerith and it was proven by the single tear that ran down her cheek. The gunblade specialist couldn't bear to look into those eyes and walked towards the door. He reached for the doorknob, but hesitated.

"Sorry." And with that, he opened the door, exited the shop, and slammed the door shut behind him. After a few more moments of silence, Aerith ran out of the shop as well—not trying to follow him, but just in need of some private time of her own.

Yuffie looked up and met Cid's eyes. "Still no luck in reaching Sora?" She asked quietly—just above a whisper. Cid shook his head softly and looked out the shop window. Yuffie stood from the couch and moved to the door. "I'm going to go see what the Heartless are doing." Cid nodded, but didn't turn to face her. Moments later, Yuffie too had left.

***

To say things were tense would be an understatement. Meg stood by the entrance to the inner ring, flinching with every growl, grunt, or roar heard from outside. Phil paced around the room with his hands behind his back, muttering every few seconds. Donald stood in a corner, tapping his webbed foot impatiently. Sora leaned against a wall with his eyes closed, trying to come up with new maneuvers to use with the Keyblade. Goofy was sitting on the floor, looking about the same as usual, but his eyes betrayed an intense worry for what was happening outside.

And what _was_ happening outside, anyway? Nobody in the room could be sure seeing as when Phil had once ventured outside to check, Cerberus the Three-Headed Dog from Hell spewed a large fireball of sorts at him, showing that it wasn't safe at all to be outside the room they were in now. But from the muffled sounds they could hear from the tunnel, it was obvious that the battle between Cerberus and Hercules was dragging on. Not for the first time, Sora wondered if the great half-god would become the dead half-god after this. By the looks on the others' faces, he figured they were all thinking the same.

_What would Riku do in a situation like this?_ Sora found himself wondering while leaning against the wall. An image of Riku appeared in his mind and the silver-haired boy flashed him a mischievous grin. Sora felt a twang of pain looking at Riku. He missed his best friend. Sora was finally getting the adventure he had always wanted, yet…

His eyes opened and he looked at Donald and Goofy. They were good people, he realized. Good friends. Yet they weren't Riku and Kairi. Oh, how he missed his and Riku's mock sword fights. How he missed their races! He wanted so much to compete again for Kairi's attention. He closed his eyes again tightly.

_Riku, Kairi… where are you? This… this wasn't supposed to happen like this! We were supposed to be together! We were going to see brand new worlds **together**!_ He felt a passion rising up within him and the Keyblade within his heart begin to press him to retrieve the blade. He stretched out his arm, opened his palm, and the Keyblade materialized with a flash of light. It glowed brightly as if his inner turmoil and passion fed it power.

All eyes in the room focused on him. His lips twitched upwards in a small but mischievous smile. It was a Riku smile. And there was no mistaking what he planned to do next.

"Kid, if you're planning on going out there…" Phil said warningly. Behind him, Goofy stood to his feet, brushed himself off, and moved to Sora's side, nodding approvingly at the young Keyblade Master. Seconds later, there was a soft quack and Donald stepped to the side opposite Goofy and held up his staff. Sora looked at his two friends with a grateful look and then looked back to Phil.

"You aren't stopping us, you know. We're gonna go help!"

"You're crazy!" Phil took a step forward and peered up at Sora. "You'll get yourself killed!"

Sora practically beamed. "Don't underestimate the power of the Keyblade!" He swung it above Phil's head showily and then drew it back and rested it on his shoulder. Phil put his hands on his hips and didn't budge. Sora sighed and looked to Goofy. "Could you…"

Goofy smiled a quite goofy grin and picked Phil up off the ground completely. Phil yelled and swung, but Goofy merely held him away at arm's length and finally set him on the ground behind the trio. Before Phil could rush to the entrance to outside, the three all ran outside.

The trio ran outside and they were immediately bombarded not with fireballs, but blinding sunlight. Sora shaded his eyes with his hand and tried to get his eyes to focus. At the moment, all he was seeing was white light reflected off the sands. In a few moments' time, though, things began taking shape…

…But they were taking shape too slowly.

"Watch out, kid!" Sora heard someone cry. He felt the heat and heard the sound before he saw it. His eyes widened, however, when the huge ball of fire came within his line of sight. It was far too close to dodge! It moved in what seemed like slow motion. Sora would have swore that he could see a trail of heat from behind the ball! Slowly, so painfully slowly, he felt a strong hand grab his arm. Suddenly time sped up again and he was ripped to the side, causing him and Goofy to tumble across the ground together, coming to rest about ten feet away from the impact point. The fireball hit the ground right where Sora had been standing and exploded in a flash of white fire. The heat was so intense that Sora was immediately drenched with sweat. There was a large black scorch mark where the fireball had hit and a few fires were alight on the concrete and sand. They would die out quickly though.

The next thing Sora noticed was a loud quacking. His eyes moved to Donald… whose tail feathers were now burning brightly. He was running around in circles, waving his arms madly, and quacking a continuous quack of pain and anger. Finally, Donald dropped down to his butt and dragged his rear end across the ground, effectively putting out the fire, but also ripping out most of the remaining tail feathers. He slowly got to his feet, wincing with every movement. He was grumbling the entire way up. Sora snickered and Goofy covered his mouth with his hands.

"If you say _anything_," Donald began.

"Roast Duck, it's what's for dinner!" Sora interjected. Donald quacked furiously and was about to point his staff at Sora to give the teenager a taste of fire when suddenly a loud roar brought them all back to the reality of the moment. Cerberus wasn't happy he had missed his targets. He wasn't happy at all.

"_MOVE IT!_" Cried the man that had warned Sora earlier. Now that he could see, Sora could now recognize the man as Hercules. He was on the other side of Cerberus, carrying Cloud on one of his shoulders. He was yelling and screaming at Cerberus, trying to get the three-headed dog's attention to allow the trio to escape.

Too bad Sora nor his friends wanted what Hercules wanted.

_FLASH!_ Two sets of lightning bolts rained down from the heavens onto Cerberus' three heads. The heads each let out a sharp whine and looked around frantically for the one who had done that. Donald and Sora grinned at each other and they both pointed their weapons at Cerberus.

_FWOOSH!_ Fireballs exploded from the ends of the weapons and each hit Cerberus' flank. A few small flames appeared where the balls hit, but they died quickly. This time, however, Cerberus knew _exactly_ where the flames had come from.

All three heads turned to face the trio. All three heads growled loudly and all three showed razor-sharp teeth within their mouths. The beast turned his entire body to face them and suddenly took off in a charge for them. Sora found very quickly how very fast Cerberus really was.

"Scatter!" Sora cried. It was a bit unnecessary, of course. Donald and Goofy had already taken off running to the side. Sora took the more direct approach. Using the speed of the Keyblade, he took off straight forward. Cerberus slowed a bit at this action and a look of confusion was seen on all three faces. Nevertheless, Sora kept charging forward.

"Is that kid crazy!?" Hercules wondered aloud as he watched. Sure, Sora was fast, but he was charging head on for Cerberus! Not even the half-god himself would risk something like that! Yet, he watched as the headstrong teenager kept charging. Cerberus had given up contemplating this turn of events and charged right at Sora as well, all three of his heads near to the ground to snatch up the Keyblade Master when he came into range. Sora drew closer and closer. Cerberus' mouths opened to huge proportions. Twenty feet were between them. Fifteen. Five. Three. The mouths snapped shut.

"_NO!_" Hercules yelled. He nearly dropped the man on his shoulders. _Why did he…? What did that accomplish!?_ The boy's two companions were in the fight now. They fought furiously. They just watched their friend get eaten. They had reason to. _I have to get him to safety and then I'll come back._ Hercules sprinted towards the exit. The man groaned.

***

Hades' blue flames illuminated the dark area that he and Cloud had been hiding in earlier. He was keeping an eye on the battle between Cerberus and the Keyblade trio. _Or duo_. He chuckled and swirled his hand around, smoke rising from his fingers. The smoke formed a shape of Sora, standing calmly with his Keyblade angled down. _So young_. Hades reached up with his other hand and closed his fist over the ethereal shape. The smoke lost its shaped and puffed out, quickly disappearing in the gloom. _So dead_. His lips parted to reveal sharp, yellow teeth.

"You seem confident." Said a male voice from the shadows.

Hades turned to face him and turned up the heat in his hair so it brightened a bit more. The man was shrouded in a black cloak. The hood was pulled over his head. A spike of dirty blonde hair was visible. Hades could see his blue flames reflected in the man's dark eyes. The eyes were focused right on Hades' own eyes. They looked completely black from where the death god stood. With the exception of his hair, everything about this man was black. Black clothes. Black eyes. Black heart. He was a man after Hades' own heart.

"I have reason to be confident." Hades said, his grin never fading. "The Keyblade Master is all that stood in the way. Now that he's dead, not even that fool Hercules can defeat me now!"

"A boy with a blunt object verses a half-god. I'm not seeing your logic." His voice didn't sound curious at all. If anything, it was patronizing. Hades' flames got hotter and brighter.

"That _blunt_ object is possibly the greatest weapon ever _created_." He spoke slowly and articulated every syllable. "If he who wields it learns how to _truly_ use it—as that squirt is—_was_—just beginning to just barely touch on—then that person could prove a dangerous threat!" The man snorted. "But now that he's gone, the Darkness can overpower anything! Not even the gods of Olympus can stop it!" He cackled but then stopped himself as he heard the man started chuckling. The man's entire body seemed to shake with the chuckles. His eyes were closed.

"What are you—?" Hades started, but he found his voice caught in his throat. The reflections of his flames were back. Slowly, white teeth began to appear from within the shroud. The man was smiling. Suddenly, the chuckling stopped, but the smile stayed.

"Just one problem with your plan, Hades." He said. His smile seemed to twist into a cruel smirk.

"What's that?" Hades spat, suddenly quite angry. His blue flames had turned to bright orange. The reflections had turned to orange as well. Suddenly, for the first time with the exception of when they were closed, the eyes left their lock on Hades' and slid to the side slowly. They were looking back in the direction of the battle. Hades knew all he needed to know from that simple gesture. A cold chill ran down his spine. He quickly spun around, his black cloak flapping in the air. His eyes focused on Cerberus. He could only manage out one word from there.

 "Crap."

The man's body shook as he began chuckling once more.

***

Goofy took the rope Donald had found on the ground and ran around Cerberus' body as fast as his lanky legs would take him. Donald held the other end of the long rope. He stood just out of range of Cerberus' teeth and Cerberus seemed quite content with going to him and snatching him up… like he did _Sora_. That was why Goofy hurried. He couldn't lose another friend. He doubled back and maneuvered between Cerberus' legs. From there, he twisted the ropes around a few legs, pulled the rope taut, and then ran back out, still holding the end of the rope. He ran back to Donald. Their eyes locked. Both of them tugged on their ends of the ropes as hard as they could.

Cerberus roared loudly. He had noticed the ropes by now and found that his legs were restrained. He could hardly walk! His body began to tip forward. The three heads were all frantic now. They snapped at air, snapped at their legs, and even snapped at each other, trying their hardest to stop the dog's descent. And then there was that stupid… _something_ on his back that had been bugging him for a while now. It was still up there! 

It pulled at its restraints further, which caused Cerberus' balance to falter even more. _There!_ A loose rope! He gave that one leg his hardest pull. There was a loud _SNAP!_ He saw the two creatures in front of him suddenly fall back. The rope was loosened and he shook his four legs free.

Donald looked up at Cerberus and quacked in frustration. _Now_ what? Behind him, he could hear the footsteps of Hercules as he ran back outside. He didn't turn to face the half-god. Instead, he looked wide-eyed at Cerberus. No, it wasn't Cerberus that he looked at… it was a certain spiky-haired teenager who grinned from atop of Cerberus' back. Goofy followed his gaze. Behind them, Hercules' steps slowed and he gasped. Yes, he had spotted the boy as well.

Sora grinned and the Keyblade materialized in his hands. It was something Riku had taught him. It wasn't that hard, actually. With the Keyblade, he was actually as fast, if not faster than Cerberus' snapping jaws! But Cerberus too had thought he had shredded the Keyblade Master! All it took was a pile of old sweaty towels he found on the ground. They smelled like human. They had the taste of human on them. And he figured Cerberus was stupid enough to believe they _were_ human! Therefore, when Sora tossed the towels in Cerberus' open mouth, the dog believed the enemy to be dead. The element of surprise. Make the enemy believe you are down and spring in when he lets his guard down. Thank you, Riku.

Sora began raining down fireballs upon Cerberus' head. The smell of burning fur and skin filled his nostrils, but he resisted the urge to retch. Cerberus reacted immediately. The heads swiveled around to face him. Sora didn't know those necks were that flexible. They snapped, but he jumped back, out of their range. He gave them a smirk and pointed the Keyblade at one. With a red burst of light, a fireball exploded from the end of the blade and hit one of the heads' eye. All three heads let out a bark of pain and the entire beast fell. Sora was knocked off its back and rolled as he hit the ground. He caused the Keyblade to disappear.

Cerberus's heads were on the ground with its backside in the air. Cerberus madly pawed at the eye that had been hit, whimpering pitifully. Sora was tempted to feel sorry for the triple-headed beast. After all, it must have hurt _terribly_ to get hit in the eye by a fireball. In fact, that eye could go blind. _Oh, man… why did I do that…? Why didn't I just—_

"_Watch it, kid!_" Hercules' voice brought Sora back to the present. And the present had an oversized fireball heading straight for Sora. It was too close! Too late to dodge it! Sora screamed and the Keyblade appeared in his right hand. All Sora could see was white as the blazing fireball neared him. It was so huge… _nothing_ could survive that. He threw out the Keyblade and grabbed the blade end with his left hand. He held it out in a protective manner, holding each side of the Keyblade and thrusting his arms out. It was a defensive position. He did it on impulse. It would not satisfy the flames released from Cerberus' mouth that only the bowels of Hell could produce.

The ball of fire was only a split second away. That's all Sora's mind needed to replay virtually every important event in his life. He remembered meeting Riku that first time on the island. He remembered when Kairi found her way onto the island. It was a strange event, that occurrence. They found her facedown on the sand with no memories of anything besides her own name. She never did remember anything else except that she wasn't from the island, but from somewhere else. Yes, that was strange indeed. Sora remembered quite a few of the trio's antics. They had so much fun on that island. He remembered the day Riku had brought up sailing off the island. He remembered how Kairi had so enthusiastically agreed. Sora had no choice but to go along as well. It was an adventure, anyway. He'd always go along with adventures. He remembered building the raft. Being unable to resist the urge to play instead of work, the trio had gotten into a sand fight that day. Sora's mother disapproved. His mind played up all the way to that one time. In the secret place. _The cloaked figure_. He could practically hear his dark laugh now, as Sora was about to perish. And, finally, the last scene before the teen's death was as he watched Riku, being covered with tendrils of a dark energy of sorts, reached out to Sora. _Why, Riku? What was so important about that dark stuff? It just… didn't feel right to me. Why did it feel right to you? Why did you—_The fireball hit.

A bright flash filled the Coliseum. Donald and Goofy both shielded their eyes. The shockwave from the explosion blew them both down and a great wind picked up, pushing them back even further. Hercules stood still. His wavy hair blew backwards in the wind, as did any of the cloth clothing on him. He never covered his eyes, but, instead, looked wistfully at the place where the fireball and boy had met. He suspected that the light from the explosion had since died down, but all he could see was still white. It would take a few seconds until he could see again. And when he could? Cerberus would _pay_.

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**_FINALLY!_** About time, huh? Well, I pray that satisfied some of your crazy wanting for the next installment. Expect the next soon… reviews may just make me write faster, so please review! Flames will be used to keep me warm at night… I don't hope for flames though. My queen-sized waterbed is already warm enough, ya know.

And, once again, please read Britt's story. It would mean more than you know to the both of us. She's worked so hard on it and she really deserves some recognition for it. So, please, read it, okay? Here's the URL again: 

Thank you again! God bless you all and may He show Himself anew everyday of your lives!

--Harvestboy2001 (Ben)


	12. Lost Light

Listen, guys and girls, there's no excuse for the wait I gave you. I'd love to tell you about how busy I've been, how I've probably spent two entire months away from home, and stuff, but the fact comes down to that I've been pretty lazy. I'm sorry about this. I mean, yes, I've been more busy in the last few months than I've ever been before, considering I began my Senior year of High School this year. I'm also _still_ very involved in a serious relationship with a girl… as well as in helping her with her epic story. I'm a busy guy nowadays, so that _is_ one of the major reasons I haven't written. The other reason would indeed be that I'm lazy and listen to my writer's blocks too much.

Moving on. Up until now, I have been alternating between my stories, one chapter at a time. Kingdom Hearts. Sonic. Kingdom Hearts. Sonic. Etc. It's not working. Whenever I write KH, I want to write Sonic. Whenever I write Sonic, I want to write KH. Combine this with my busy schedule and you get the reasons I get so many writer's blocks. Can you tell that it's not working? Well, things are changing—and hopefully this will help. I'm going to start writing what I want to write, _when_ I want to write. I may be even adding a third story to my repertoire in some time.

This may indeed signal more waits for Kingdom Hearts at times… while it may signal three chapters coming out in two weeks another time. However, it means that I'll be able to write more, which is something I need to do. I know it may not seem all that good for some… but, trust me… it's better than what I had planned up until a few weeks ago. I had planned that this chapter would be the last for Journey of the Heart. I changed my mind, thankfully!

Now, my author's notes are coming to a close! Go ahead and read the story now! I don't own it! I own no Disney or Square-Enix characters, nor the storyline of Kingdom Hearts. I don't even own the mystery guest in this chapter. He belongs to my girlfriend (I'll explain more at the end of the chapter).

**Chapter 12: Lost Light**

_You know… I seriously thought dying would hurt a lot more. And, man, the afterlife's bright. I can't see a **thing**! It's so windy. And loud. And hot. … … …I hope I didn't go to the **other** place. Hey, the brightness is clearing a bit! …That figure… Oh no… **Crap**, I **have** gone to the other place!_

The bright cloud over Sora's eyes cleared slowly, but soon the howling wind died down and the heat dissipated. As the three heads of Cerberus came back into view—as well as the Coliseum, he soon gathered something had happened that wasn't supposed to have happened. After all, somehow, he had lived the monstrous fireball that was sure to have incinerated him. And yet there he was. Alive. Whole. Well!

And then it hit him.

He.

Was.

_**ALIVE!**_

He let out a whoop and thrust the Keyblade into the air. Its polished golden hilt glinted in the sunlight and then Sora noticed something. The blade… was glowing a bit red. He frowned and brought it to his face. The air around the Keyblade waved—as if it was extremely hot. He reached up tentatively with his left hand and touched it with his ungloved fingertips..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" He cried and immediately shoved his entire hand into his mouth, glove and all. He could have _sworn_ he heard it steam when it contacted with his saliva. On a better day, he probably would have figured if something metal was glowing red, it meant it was extremely hot. But _no_. He had to experiment and touch it, didn't he? Of course, this told him one thing. Somehow, someway the Keyblade had protected him. He could only suppose the white light was an explosion of sorts. The Blade had absorbed some of the explosion, obviously, and somehow diffused the rest from hurting Sora. Maybe his luck was changing! Or, maybe not.

Unfortunately for the young Keyblade Master, his scream had not only alerted his friends of his still-breathing self, but also the Devil's Dog itself. All three heads swiveled his way… again. All three pairs of eyes widened. All three noses snorted. All three mouths opened to revealed bared teeth, dripping with saliva. One particularly large glob fell and splashed against the hot stone, sizzling slightly. Sora shuddered—how he would _hate_ to be the one to be hit by that.

His friends may have been calling for him in that moment. Voices full of shock and joy. But he really didn't care. He'd already had too many near-death experiences—this one was the worst! He didn't know how much longer his luck was going to hold out in the battle. It was time to end this. He held the Keyblade out, parallel to the ground and his eyes narrowed at Cerberus. And then an idea struck his mind. What if… His eyes widened. It would work! It would really work!

He brought his arm back and suddenly threw it forward, flinging the Keyblade towards Cerberus' middle head. His shot could not have been truer. It spun through the air like a saw blade—spinning much faster than Sora had expected it to—and flew straight for Cerberus. It struck the left side of the middle head and the head jerked to the right, yelping in pain.

"Okay, come back to me…" Sora said under his breath. He saw a flash of light by Cerberus' head and suddenly felt a weight in his hand again. He grinned as the Keyblade materialized, already in the grasp of his fist. In front of him, only about fifty feet away stood Cerberus, one head whimpering—two others growling menacingly. He cranked his arm back again and threw the Keyblade again—this one at Cerberus' right head. It connected. When the Keyblade reappeared again, Sora shot it off immediately and watched as it slammed into the left and final head.

Cerberus stumbled a bit. His heavy footsteps rumbled throughout the arena as he struggled to keep his balance. All three heads whimpered pitifully. One of his legs gave way and Cerberus collapsed to the ground. He struggled to rise, but it seemed the Keyblade did some damage.

Sora's light footfalls echoed off the stone bleachers on either side of the arena. He was bent low, Keyblade parallel to the ground. He ran towards Cerberus with shocking speed—a blur shooting across the stone. Cerberus was just rising to his wobbly feet when Sora reached him. The Keyblade crackled with electricity as it flew upwards in a smoldering uppercut to the middle head that sent the beast stumbling backwards. And then the left head was hit with what seemed to be a weapon of ice. Ice crystals formed where the Keyblade had hit. Sora landed on the ground quietly after hitting the side of Cerberus' head. He looked at the right head and grinned before taking off again. He reached the point just under the middle head and leapt, seemingly floating through the air. He curled up and flipped before straightening out his body and delivering a strong one-two kick to Cerberus' jaw.

He cried out in surprise as he fell and hit the hard stone. _That_ would leave a bruise. However, Cerberus was in far worse shape then Sora's bruised bottom. He whimpered weakly and all three pairs of eyes drooped. His footing did not seem sure and all four legs wobbled. The teen's eyes widened and he rolled to the side just in time. Cerberus collapsed just as Sora was clear. All three of his heads thudded against the ground and a cloud of dust and dirt sprayed out from underneath him. Besides the slow rising and falling of his back in accord to his breathing, he did not move.

"And after proving yourself to be strong of will and compassion, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Furthermore, with the title of junior heroes, you shall—"

Donald quacked angrily. "What do you mean by _'junior heroes'_?" He demanded furiously, his eyes narrow.

Phil dismissed him with the wave of a hand. "You rookies _still_ don't know what it means to be true heroes and—" Donald shook his fist and quacked loudly. Sora sighed heavily and shook his head.

"So… what does it mean to be a true hero?" Goofy asked, saying what was on all three of their minds. Hercules smiled a large smile and looked at Meg warmly before turning back to the trio.

"That's something you'll just have to find out for yourselves. Just like I was forced to." He rubbed Phil's bald head—much to the dismay of the goat. "Being a hero isn't an easy task. Most don't even have what it takes, and most that do never reach it."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll _prove_ ourselves in the games."

"There ain't gonna _be_ any games for a while, kid. Not until we clean up the mess you made out there." Phil said with a smirk.

"_I_ made? How can you say—"

Phil cut him off with a laugh. "Come back when the games are back on, Rookie. Then we'll see how heroic you are."

Sora snorted and turned away from him. "We'll be back, all right, goat-boy." Phil stamped his foot. "Count on it." And with that, Sora walked out of the Coliseum lobby. Donald and Goofy followed.

"I _still_ can't believe that squirt beat _Cerberus_." Phil said, shaking his head.

"Well, just between you and me…" Hercules said. He bent down to be level with Phil's ear. "I had already worn down Cerberus before the little guy got there."

Phil smirked. "My lips are sealed."

Sora turned the laminated Junior Hero License card around in his hands. All in all, the white card with his name on it wasn't very special. It definitely wasn't an entire tapestry devoted to one of his amazing battles, but…

He paused, seeing a slight reflection in the card. There was the reflection of a cloaked figure on top of the Coliseum walls. His eyes widened and he stared at the card. His head jerked upwards. His eyes locked on the spot where he had seen the figure…

…And no one was there. He blinked and looked back down at the card. There too was nothing. He frowned and looked up from his card again, but, this time, his eyes caught sight of something else. Cloud, his former opponent was sitting on some steps near the entrance to the Coliseum, knees folded up vertically and his head in his hands. He was muttering to himself, but Sora couldn't hear anything he was saying.

"D'ya think he's okay?" Goofy asked quietly.

"I don't know. He looked pretty hurt earlier." Sora replied, his eyes locked on the apparently distressed form.

"Well, it doesn't matter! We need to go, so—_Sora!_" Sora walked away from Goofy and the now fuming Donald and headed for the man.

His footsteps crunched under the sand and Cloud looked up at the sound. His bright, blue eyes looked sad and his face was much softer than it was when Sora fought him. He acknowledged Sora with a slight nod, but without a word. Sora, however, was not giving up so easily.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Yeah," replied Cloud, looking Sora in the eyes.

Sora recalled a conversation that they'd had with Hercules and Phil after Cerberus was defeated. From this conversation, Sora had learned that Cloud had been hired by none other than Hades himself to fight in the tournament. The interesting part of it, of course, was Hades' eventual betrayal of Cloud. Sora shuffled his feet a bit, unsure of whether or not to ask about it. Finally, his curiosity won over his consideration, though.

"So, why did you go with _him_, anyway?" Sora asked quietly, sure that Cloud wasn't an evil man like Hades was. Cloud was silent for a long time. His eyes fell from Sora's and focused on the coliseum's walls behind Sora. His eyes grew darker in a way and when he finally spoke, his voice seemed to be suppressing a lot of emotion.

"I'm… looking for someone." He shook his head slightly and his blonde spikes quivered. "Hades promised to help me." He snorted. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but, obviously, it _backfired_." Cloud stood up and looked down at the brown-headed boy. "I fell into darkness," he said, his voice now sounding much colder than before. He was bitter. "And I couldn't find my light."

Sora frowned slightly. His… _light_? The way he said it… it sounded like it had a definite double meaning. Could he mean that someone he had lost? He smiled slightly. He decided then that Cloud and Sora had something in common.

"You'll find it," Sora said with assurance. Then he added, "I'm searching too." Cloud's gaze kept on him, but he was silent for a few moments. The darkness in his eyes faded and his facial expression was softer.

"For your light?" he asked softly, almost incredulously. He laughed slightly. "Don't lose sight of it, Sora. Don't _ever_ lose sight of your light." _Like I did…_ he finished silently. He stretched out his arm and gripped Sora's shoulder. "Sora, whatever you're doing, you're doing it right. You've got some people angry at you—people who would only be angry at some good things." He looked up towards where Sora and his friends just came from. "I know you got Hades furious. He was definitely after you… but why?"

Sora frowned. "I… I don't know, Cloud."

"Well, he's threatened by you, kid. Be careful—I have a feeling he's not something to laugh at."

"We can handle him! We handled Cerberus, didn't we?"

"Hades isn't Cerberus. Cerberus is his _pet dog_." Sora grew a bit colder at that. Cerberus almost finished Sora _off_… "I hope you never have to face him, kid. Really—I do." Cloud pulled away. "Take care of yourself." He turned and started walking for the exit to the Coliseum.

"Cloud!" Sora called, taking a step towards him. He looked behind his shoulder. "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

The blonde chuckled slightly. With a wave of his hand, he said, "I think I'll pass." Sora watched as he walked out and then looked back to the others.

"Well… let's go!" He exclaimed. With that, he ran out the doors… and suddenly ran straight into someone. "Sorry, Cloud…!" He cried, backing up, arms wind milling to keep his balance. He failed and fell down on his backside.

The person grunted. "Name's not Cloud." His voice was gravelly and dark.

Sora looked up… and gasped. His eyes widened and he crab-walked backwards.

The man…

The _man_! It was the man from Destiny Island! The man who talked about understanding nothing! This man was on _his island_ right before it was destroyed! He was from Sora's _home_!

Sora vaguely heard Donald and Goofy run out. Donald was busy interrogated the man on why Sora was on the ground. Goofy was bending down to help Sora up. But Sora shot up to his feet before Goofy could even reach him.

"_You!_ You were that guy on my island! You talked about the door being opened or something!" Sora pointed at him. "Do you know what happened to all my friends!?" The man crossed his cloaked arms across his chest. It didn't faze Sora that he was wearing a black cloak instead of a brown one. If Sora could have seen his face from within the shadow, he would have supposed he was looking at Sora coolly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, his gravelly voice emotionless. It didn't really sound like the man, now that Sora thought about it. His eyes widened when he noticed the man _was_ wearing a black cloak. The realization hit him like a hammer. This man _wasn't_ the man from the Secret Place. He wasn't from Destiny Island. He… he wasn't Sora's key to finding his friends.

"_You pushed him, didn't you!?_" Donald quacked, his face red. Sora found it weird that his feathers all turned so red… but he decided not to question it.

"No. He ran into me." The man's voice chilled Sora's spirits. He didn't think he had _ever_ heard someone so… _dark_.

"Yeah, I… I did." Sora said softly. Donald spun around and gave him an angry look that told Sora that he was about to scold him, so Sora turned to the man. "I'm sorry about that, I… I thought you were someone else."

The man scoffed. "You think?" Sora was a bit taken aback by his rude attitude. Apparently, Donald was too. Sora cut him off again before Donald could throw a fit. Again.

"Well… sorry." Sora moved to walk past him, but just as he passed, he felt a callous hand grab his left arm tightly. He felt a twang of fear and he froze. His right arm was at his side and he was ready at any moment to recall the Keyblade to his hand. He looked up at the man apprehensively and found the man watching Donald and Goofy warily.

"What's your name?" He asked with little curiosity, as if the information didn't really interest him in the least.

"Sora," the teen answered carefully. He looked up at his companions. Donald was gripped his rod with a death grip and Goofy looked alert and ready to grab the shield off its place on his back at any second.

"Sora…" The man said gratingly. Sora noticed that it sounded like there was a bit of contempt mixed in it. Who was this man? He looked back up at him and noticed a sliver of blonde hair visible from underneath the dark hood.

Suddenly, the pressure on his arm abated as the man released him. The man crisply spun around and started walking away. Sora watched as one of his hands reached up to his chest… and then the man stopped. He whipped around and Sora could have sworn his shadowed eyes narrowed in Sora's direction.

"Hey… what's this?" Goofy asked to the side. The man's head snapped in the direction of Goofy. He took large steps, his booted feet just visible underneath his cloak, towards Goofy, who was currently straightening up after bending down and picking something off the ground.

"Give… me… _that_!" The man snarled. Goofy glanced at him and then held out his white-gloved hand, the object—whatever it was—on his palm. The man snarled once more and swiped the object so quickly that Goofy hand jerked to the side. The object was gone and the man was, again, briskly walking off.

"Bye!" Goofy called, waving, as if the whole ordeal didn't even faze him. But Sora watched as he finished waving and then rubbed the hand the man had hit while snatching the prized object. Sora looked back towards the man, but then gasped in surprise and blinked rapidly. The cloaked figure—whoever he was—had disappeared.

"What was that thing, Goofy?" Donald quacked.

"It looked like a green rock thing…" Goofy replied slowly. "But it was like a necklace because it had some kind of string on it."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck. He asked, "You okay?"

"Yep!" replied the Goof.

"Well, in that case, let's go! I wanna explore more worlds!"

"He's strong! He's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot! He's perfect." Hades snarled and the blue flames atop his head exploded into a raging inferno of red, yellow, and orange, extending down his neck, shoulders, arms, and back. "_Perfect!_" In his hand was a smoky image of Hercules, standing with his fists on his hips, legs spread. Hades crushed the image in his fist, causing it to puff out into nonexistence. "_Perfectly infuriating_! He makes me _crazy!_" The flames flashed white for a second and then died back down to the dull blue color, shrinking back to just atop his head.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about, Hades old buddy? Everything's in place! _Relax_. All right, here's the plan. Let Hercules train the kid. Sure, it's dangerous, but come next chance I get, I'll take them both out with one stone!" A smoke image of both Hercules and Sora cowering on the ground appeared on one side of his palm. On his fingertips was a large, three headed beast—the Hydra. He sneered, revealing crooked, yellow teeth as two of the Hydra's heads snapped forward, catching both Hercules and Sora, devouring them in a heartbeat. The image disappeared. "Oh yes. Things will be perfect."

A cold wind blew past him from behind, causing his robe to ripple in black waves. Even through his constantly warm skin, he felt a cold chill that ran to his black heart. He didn't need to turn to see who the source of this chill was.

"Who invited you here?" he questioned offhandedly. "This is my show; stay out of it." He could just _see_ her lips twist into a dark sneer. He could feel her yellow eyes drilling a hole through the back of his flaming skull. He felt as though he could feel her hot breath on his neck. The coldness in his heart got worse.

"As you wish," she said. Her voice had taken on a mocking tone. "Fight to your heart's content." And then Maleficent was gone. Hades stood there for a moment. A moment turned to a full minute. That minute finally became two before he shuddered visibly, emitted a "Brrr…" sound, and moved into the shadows, where a circle of bright green appeared, soon filling in. The circle became a swirling vortex of green and black. He stepped into it and the vortex closed up on itself just as fast as it had appeared. Hades was gone.

The silver-haired fifteen-year-old boy sat upon a rooftop in the formerly largest city, the capitol city of Galbadia, on Hollow Bastion. Now, of course, it was mostly the world's largest pile of trash. The Heartless had ravaged the city when Maleficent had staged the coup and took over the world of Hollow Bastion with the help of those without hearts. Although the king Ansem had long since disappeared, the world was left in the control of his trusted friend and captain of Hollow Bastion's military, SeeD, a Squall Leonhart. With the help of a select group of other leaders, he led the world up until Maleficent attacked with the Heartless. However, Squall and his SeeD were pushed farther and farther back until their last stand was made in the Hollow Bastion Castle. After that, the SeeD and other militia boarded the limited amount of Gummi Ships available and flew off to other worlds, retreating to live to fight another day. So the boy had been told.

Brushing some of his bangs away from his face, Riku sighed and looked around. From his vantage point, he could see a great deal around him. All the streets crawled with Heartless of any kind. However, he noticed that the majority of them consisted of the Dark Balls (big, floating dark balls with Shadow-like antennae and eyes and huge, chomping mouths) and Wyverns (strange, red Dragon-like Heartless that would dive-bomb its prey and attempt to rip the victim's heart out with its white teeth.)

A Wyvern shrieked and slammed to the roof he was sitting upon only five feet away, glaring at him with its cold, yellow eyes. Riku didn't flinch. The creature wanted his heart—he knew it did. For the Heartless, it was its most favorable food. However, Riku also knew that the Heartless had been forbidden to touch him. And, just as predicted, the Wyvern glared at him for a few more moments before flapping its wings and lifting into the air again, shrieking in frustration.

Riku sighed once more and looked at his palms, studying them. His throat constricted and he struggled to repress the sudden surge of emotion. He was lonely. Riku was lonelier than he had ever been before. The Heartless obviously would never keep him company and there was no way he'd ever trust Maleficent and her cronies. But that left him with virtually no one. At most, it left him with a pocket of resistance here and there, but he wouldn't know how to even find them, much less befriend them. And even then, he had agreed to join Maleficent, hadn't he?

Yet… she had given him freedom to do virtually whatever he wanted to. She had given him the freedom to go anywhere he so desired. He had already visited dozens of worlds, experienced things he had never experienced before… and found himself frustrated more and more by those experiences. He had everything he ever wanted; yet he was beginning to hate it.

"I wonder where Sora is now…" Riku said aloud, ignoring the Dark Ball that flew dangerously close to his head, jaws snapping like clockwork. "Probably with Kairi," he finished with a scowl. But he noticed that the scowl was more forced—as a habit—than actually heartfelt. He missed those two. He missed those two like he'd miss his own heart. He wasn't sure if he could stand for long being around the lovebirds, but…

But he found himself missing their company. He found that having power, but being without a friend was a mental and emotional torture that he had never been prepared for. It ripped him apart inside. Every passing day, he felt his heart grow colder. Darker. He longed to hold onto the warmth of friendship. To escape the confines of the Island, he accepted Darkness. Yet now, after experiencing it, he found it lacking… and outright terrifying. It filled him with a strong dread for what could lay beyond if he kept going down that path. And, at the same time, the more he had of it, the more he wanted it.

That's what scared Riku the most. Regardless of how _evil_ the Darkness truly was, he found himself wanting it more and more every day. He regretted accepting it now, yet he wasn't sure that, if he were allowed to relive that moment in his life, he would change his decision. What was happening to him? The Light was fading from his heart. It faded from his heart faster than he could even notice, half of the time. But he had no doubt about it. He felt an unbalance in his heart and he knew that he had to do something to correct that, or soon it would be too late.

He had to leave Hollow Bastion, he knew. He had to leave Maleficent, leave the Heartless, leave the Darkness, embark on a journey—this one to find Sora and Kairi and then to go back home to Destiny Islands with them hot on his trail.

Another shriek—this one the cry of a terrified woman—shook him from his thoughts. He grabbed his sword and shot to his feet, running to the edge of the building. Directly below him, one of Maleficent's henchmen—not a Heartless, but a simple, stupid, hairy, smelly human—was dragging a kicking and screaming lady past the building… right towards a group of Heartless. The woman had raven hair and looked to be in her early twenties. She was probably slightly taller than Riku. She was dressed in a light blue dress and had some sort of projectile weapon attached to her right forearm. With a flash, the projectile—some kind of spinning, sharp disk—blasted off it and whistled through the air, cutting through a Darkball, eradicating it. It whirled through the air and actually turned back like a boomerang, flying straight back at her and the henchman. However, the henchman jerked the girl to the side and the disked missed them cleanly, hitting the ground with a loud _crack_ and a shower of sparks. The woman's struggles doubled, but the henchman's grip would not lose her.

Riku's eyes narrowed and he inched along the rooftop, watching the henchman and the woman. When Riku reached the edge of the roof, he leapt down and landed with a roll, rolling to a stop behind the remains of what used to be one of the walls of a house. He crept along the remains until he reached the end, where he peeked out once more. The Heartless had spotted the man and the woman by now and crowded around them both, all snarling and shrieking in excitement. A few of them started towards the two humans, but those Heartless were beaten back by other Heartless that grew angry at the prospect of losing a heart. The circle around the henchman and woman closed and Riku's grip on his sword tightened.

This was wrong. He couldn't let this happen! He dug his foot into the ground and tore away from his hiding spot behind the wall. He crossed out into the open and his presence was noticed immediately. Several of the Heartless turned to face him, anger and hunger etched on their features. However, for some, it was too late. Dozens of Heartless dived at the henchman and woman, teeth and claws longing for the feeling of their flesh.

"_No!_" Riku cried, rushing forward as fast as his legs could carry him. Yet… he was slower than usual… why couldn't he move like normal…? During his stay at Hallow Bastion, everything about him had been made better by the darkness that Maleficent had imparted on him, yet now, that darkness seemed to flee… in fact, he felt weaker than before. He doubled and tripled his efforts and rushed past the first line of Heartless, whom did not attack him because of who he was. However, judging by the swarm ahead, Riku knew he would be too late.

His sword cut through the air and Heartless alike, eliminating two, three, five, and then up to ten separate Heartless. Many of the creatures of snarled and screeched in disagreement, but still none attacked. He was closer now and finally reached the pile of Heartless that had leapt upon the henchman and the woman. Even as he cut through their ranks with ease, he feared the worst. Finally, though, the creatures backed away, furious at his intrusion, but none daring to go against their orders. On the ground were a tattered shirt, pants, and boots—remnants of the henchman… and the girl hiding beneath them, still kicking and screaming in a panic.

A lump formed in Riku's throat and he felt a surge of joy well up in his stomach, threatening to burst forth in yells and whoops. She had lived! Somehow the girl survived the onslaught! From her position, Riku guessed that when the Heartless attacked, she had taken cover behind the large man. When the man was pushed over, she was left in relative safety as the Heartless tore at him. However, Riku knew full well that if he was only a few seconds slower, he would have been too late.

However, Riku trusted the Heartless about as far as he could throw the former henchman, and would not endanger the woman further. He quickly reached down and grabbed her flailing arm (eliciting more shrieking and kicking) and wrenched her to her feet.

"_Hey!_" Riku said sharply, grabbing her other arm and giving her a forceful shake. The woman stopped screaming and resisting immediately and her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing soft, chocolate eyes. She stared at him for a long time and her bottom lip quivered. Suddenly, in a burst of emotion, she let out a sharp shout of joy and hugged him tightly around his neck, causing Riku blush deeply. Granted, he'd been hugged by Kairi before, but this was another girl entirely.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, releasing him and clasping her hands together. However, her joy dimmed by a lot when she saw the Heartless gathering behind Riku, each and every one leering at one of the two humans with menacingly.

"We need to move," Riku said softly. "They won't be able to control their hunger much longer," The girl said nothing, but just nodded, suddenly unsure of whose side this hero was on. However, for the moment, she would trust and follow him. "Do you know anywhere you can hide out?"

Immediately, alarms went off in the girl's heart. He could be a spy, and, if so, she could be leading him right back to their base! No, the Forest Owls would be continually protected from Maleficent. Instead, she would take him to the former hideout… and there would she test him. If he passed the test, she would contact the Forest Owls and have the resistance group come to them and make the final decision. If he failed, she would run away in the night and get back to the Owls on her own.

"Yeah!" she said, a smile brightening her features. "Follow me! And hurry!" And with those words, the two of them took off down the opposite road, away from the angry Heartless. All the while, Riku felt as if he was on his last reserves of strength.

_What's happening to me…?_

The dark man sat upon a large, sandy rock on the outskirts of Athens. To the east was the tall peak of Mt. Olympus. Clouds swirled around the top of it, preventing those on the ground from seeing what was above—which was supposedly because at the peak of the mountain was the god paradise of Olympus. His face contorted with anger. _Paradise_. The word was a lie. That word was a _joke_ created by _idiots_ who decided that they had the right to play with the emotions of others.

He squeezed his right fist so tightly that his arm began to tremble. The object in his hand did not give into the pressure and held strong, not breaking under the power of his grip. He opened his hand, ignoring the four small cuts on his palm created by his nails, and peered at the object in it. The object was a small, green, translucent stone with golden trim around the side of it. It was tear-shaped and had two thin strips of leather tied together at the peak of its curve.

"Stupid," he said gravely. "I almost lost this..." He let the stone fall through his fingers and closed them around the string, causing it to dangle below his hand. He lifted it up and swung it gently back and forth, letting it act as a pendulum, as if this action would hypnotize him and free him from the emptiness that ripped at his heart.

His eyes followed it lazily, watching as the sunlight shone through brokenly, curving and zigzagging through the stone. Finally, he swung it harder than before and it wrapped around his outstretched hand multiple times before the string ran out of line and the stone slapped to his palm with a dull thwack. His palm closed into a fist and he brought that fist to his lips. After kissing his hand he moved it up and rested his forehead against it, feeling the onslaught of emotion threatening to overthrow his emotional barriers.

His lips moved without a sound, a silent word passing from his mouth to the wind. A single droplet of moisture traveled down his rugged and scraggly cheek, getting caught in the rough, blonde stubble lining his jaw. He didn't move to wipe his cheek. Instead, his body gave a shudder and more tears slipped from his hard eyes. His hazel eyes unleashed the torrent that had been held back for ages like a dam finally crumbling under the pressure of the river behind it.

Eitan the Vagabond stayed in that spot until the moon was high. Finally, he resolved to look into the sky and watched as a shooting star crossed the blackness of the infinity. He did not see it, but far away, another star flickered and dimmed before disappearing completely from existence. Eitan's eyelids drooped and he fell into a fitful slumber.

There you have it, folks. The long awaited and overdue Chapter 12 is now finished with. …About time. Anyway, I need to give credit where credit is due. To those who have followed my wishes and read my girlfriend's story, you already know exactly who Eitan is. To those who have no clue what the story I'm talking about is, Eitan is an original character created by my girlfriend in her story, _Breaking the Shadows_. My story doesn't do him justice either. If you're interested in him, I'd suggest reading that story. …I'd suggest it either way. My girlfriend is an _amazing_ writer and I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

If you wish to read _Breaking the Shadows_, you can find the URL to it in my Author Bio or in my Favorite Stories list. Again, I'd really suggest it—whether or not you're into Monster Rancher. It is a story that can be picked up and read, even if you aren't very familiar with Monster Rancher. So, once more, go and read it! It's _awesome_.

Moving on, I'm not going to do any shout-outs in this chapter. Thank you all for your reviews and thank you Merry-Brisnell for your flame. It's been a long time since someone flamed me for the sole purpose of ridiculing my faith. …I've genuinely missed it.

Anywho, thanks again to all those who reviewed. I am truly sorry for the long wait and I hope your next wait won't be as long.

God bless you all and Happy Belated Thanksgiving! And if I don't see you again beforehand, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

--Harvestboy2001


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